Life, 1902-12-04 · page 11 of 24
Life — December 4, 1902 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Issue 485 This page contains three separate humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century satirical magazines: 1. **"Was He Joking?"** - An article discussing Doctor William Everett's claim that Samuel Johnson (the famous 18th-century lexicographer) appeared in Charles Edward's "Forty-five." The piece satirizes how readers may naively accept literary anecdotes as fact when published in serious magazines. 2. **"Different"** - A brief joke about a janitor and world-weary tenant discussing occupancy; the humor lies in the tenant's assumption about children. 3. **"Another 'Oldest Inhabitant'"** - A small cartoon depicting what appears to be a gravedigger or undertaker, playing on the common "oldest inhabitant" character type in period humor—people claiming ancient knowledge of their locality. The page's humor relies on era-specific conventions and character types now largely unfamiliar to modern readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
485 Was He Joking? ‘T)OCTOR WILLIAM EVERETT offers evidence in the current number of the Aantic Monthly that Samuel Johnson, the great lexicographer, was out for Charles Edward in “the 'Forty-five.” To support this supposition Doctor Everett quotes letters Jately found ina venerable London house. He has not appendcd a certificate of veracity to his discourse, and the probability seems to be that he invented his evidence for literary purposes. Such is the credulity and the ignorance of mankind, that the literary pleas- antries of a learned man,when they appear in a grave magazine, are liable to be accepted by many readers as true history. If Doctor Everett will authorize the information that his piece is a joke, it will be conceded that the joke is a good one and skilfully imparted. A FTER telling his wife < a lie, it is a relief to @ man’s conscience to find that she doesn't believe Different. J ANITOR : You can’t occupy this flat. WOULD-BE TENANT: Why not? We have only nine dogs. “Ob, all right. I thought you had chil- dren.” The Widew: WANT A MAN TO DO ODD JOBS ABOUT 11£ HOUSE, RUN ON ERRANDS, ONE THAT NEVER ANSWERS BACK AND (9 ALWAYS READY TO DO MY BIDDING. Applicant: You'Re LOOKING Puff A HUSBAND, MatAx. : aNorazR “OLDEST IxWaprtant.” comicbooks.com