Life, 1905-08-31 · page 21 of 24
Life — August 31, 1905 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertisements** interspersed with three brief **humorous anecdotes**—typical Life magazine content from the early 1900s. The ads promote American consumer goods: hats, gloves, soap, fabric, shirts, and perfume, reflecting the era's focus on personal grooming and "patronizing American industries." The three jokes are gentle period humor: 1. **"Definition of an Orphan"**: A child defines an orphan as "a woman who wants to get married and can't"—satirizing women's limited independence and marriage obsession. 2. **"Bobby's Contribution"**: A boy chooses the smaller donation because he can give it more "cheerfully," cynically subverting religious virtue. 3. **"Unavoidably Detained"**: A prisoner sentenced to twenty years asks the judge to tell his wife not to wait dinner—absurdist dark humor about marital domesticity trumping legal consequence. These are lighthearted social observations typical of early 20th-century American humor magazines, poking fun at conventional attitudes toward marriage, religion, and domestic life without serious political intent.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FUME tat Ft RSS | Zs IL } Made of Clear Argentine Nutria Hats for Men There is a becoming finapp-Iell @ hat for every face. Knapp-Felt De Luxe $6, Knapp- Felt $4. Write for The Hatman. THE CROFUT & KNAPP CO., Broadway, at 13th St, New York, DHE” ” Wane = MADE LINEN 15¢ EACH MILDON IF YOUR DEALER WONT SUPPLY YOU, WRITE US EMIGH & STRAUB-Dept CC.TROY,NY Kid Gloves. Soft, Elastic, Durable. Silk Gloves. Remarkable for Finish and Beauty $1.50. of Texture. 5oc., 75¢., $1.00, 31 years on Broadway CENTEMERI ott Broadway, just above 2oth St. Telephone, 1135 Gramercy. REUTER’S SOAP Only the purest and finest stock is good enough to get into Reuter’s Soap, but this isn’t all. We exercise the same care in the selection of our perfume that we do in the buying of our stock. Result: An exquisitely scented, whole- somely pure toilet soap. At all Department Stores. ‘T ansdowne™ The Correct Fabric for perfect gowning of women of all ages, for every occasion indoors and out. Genuine pertorated every 3 yards on the selvedge 2 e008 cee, For sale at all good stores Definition of an Orphan. - wiser is an orphan?” asked the teacher of the class in definitions. Nobody seemed to know. “Well, I'm an orphan,” said the teacher, seeking an illustration that would not reveal too much, At this a hand popped up, and the owner of it exclaimed n orphan is a woman that wants to get married and can’t."—Exchange. HE best of marksmen have their off days. They are less apt to overtake the man who gocs hunting with a Hunter One-trizger on a Smith Hammerless—the best made, most dependable shotgun on the market. Send for iustrated catalogue, Hunter Arms Co., Fulton, N. Y, OBBY’S father had given him a ten-cent piece and a quarter of a dollar, telling him he might put one or the other on the con tribution plate. “Which did you give, Bobby?” his father asked, when the boy came home from church. “Well, father, I thought at first I ought to put in the quarter,” said Bobby, “but then just in time I remembered: ‘The Lord loveth a cheerful giver, and I knew I could give the ten-cent piece a great deal more cheerfully, so I put that in."—The Independent. ‘The Safest Summer Drink ROSS'S ROYAL BELFAST GINGER ALE, Unavoidably Detained. UDGE: You are sentenced to twenty years in State’s prison. Have you anything to say? Prisoner: Yes, your honor. Will you please send word to my wife not to wait din- ner for me?—Translated for Tales from “Flic- gende Blatter." = ————— | Patronize American industries. Wear a the creation par excellence of the nation. Agencies in all the principal cities in the world, |} POPULAR SHIRT BEARS Made in all styles for men who seek the maximum of wear at the minimum of cost. FAST COLOR FABRICS Dealers have them at $1.00 or $1.5 CLUETT, PEABODY & CO. Widely imitated but ever equalled THE GENUINE MURRAY & LANMAN’S FLORIDA WATER The Perfume of Perfumes. freshing, Delightful, Without exception the best Tollet Water the world, Ask pglat for MURRAY & LANMAN'S Sal aad sce that you get lt. comicbooks.com