Life, 1905-08-10 · page 20 of 26
Life — August 10, 1905 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **multiple short humorous anecdotes** rather than a political cartoon, reflecting Life's satirical format of the era. The stories mock various social types: an actor's pretentious name-dropping about Irish friends visiting New York; an oil-field worker's literal-minded approach to engineering tasks; and a lengthy Irish-themed narrative about an Irishman attending a stranger's funeral, progressively asking different people who the deceased was—each answer more vague than the last, culminating in him climbing into the coffin to see for himself. The humor relies on **ethnic stereotyping** (the Irish are portrayed as simple or dim-witted) and **class-based comedy** about working-class men and their literal interpretations of language and social conventions—typical of early 20th-century American magazine humor. The page is primarily **advertisements** (whiskey, ale, steel pens, and railroad travel) surrounding the text content, which was standard for Life's revenue model.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
able-looking, middle-aged man, apparently at leis MIKE'S PREFERENCE Merrymeeti gracefully reunion by overwork, Then spoke up one who had been silent. about six Ilere’s one that ec onight, wh has no hair on top ay of the Isck ¢ church and charity te J of mine,” said he, y those who are regular attendants at churc | yon they came to services, told a story about an Irishn r | rived, who tried to ss Broadway whi ! | have The procession w ery ly asked the policeman o ie corner whose funeral “L don't kno’ it was. said t he must ha} rather have me she have EXPERT ENGINEERING. ishman next asked the strect cleaner | at that point | An Oil City laborer who i me knows,” said the swe | cter in his he must have been to have a from Me At the close of the day A SILHO(D)UETTE. to assist in his he Irishman went — fone of th clerks whose f clerk didn't know, the aon guess as to ues of the deceased. Finally ie to an end, and as it did so there ng up to the hills for pleasure solely,” said tework, J's tleman, mpt reply was, « ‘Ob, 2 mi The Irishman climbed i a vacation, t Argo he step of the last through the window, cecupant who the gre THE WORKING CLASS. wonderful faner: aveler in the # y of Fast Tene carria . says th the house sata Avance. P $5.00 a year in rt le current 1. $LOP.a year extra ¢ months {1 Be ions in Lave are copyrighted, and are not to be reproduced. nternational News irn are copyrighted, and are not to be reproduced. .. England, Acexts. G vmpt notification should be sent by subscribers of any change of address, |In the Mountains On the Train | At the Seaside On the Boat Established 1860 WILSON Evans’ WHISKEY Ale ESTERBROOK S “ Steel Pens T hat’s A | | ! = a BEVERAGE For Camping 150 Varieties | For Sailing For Motoring | For Golfing For Traveling | For Country Life | Sold Everywhere | The Best Pens Made C. EVANS & INS, Hudson, N.Y. New York to Buffalo, via New York Central—Finest One-Day Railroad Ride in the World. comicbooks.com