Life, 1908-12-03 · page 61 of 68
Life — December 3, 1908 — page 61: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, not political satire. However, it contains one notable humorous piece: The "INDUCTIVE" story (left column) is a **Sherlock Holmes parody**. A "hawk-eyed gentleman" and his "quiet, unassuming chap" companion visit a grocery store. The hawk-eyed man deduces it's a grocery store, impresses his companion ("Watson"), then leaves. The storekeeper realizes his famous visitor was Sherlock Holmes himself. The joke satirizes **Holmes's obsessive deductive method** as applied to the absurdly obvious—identifying a grocery store requires no deduction whatsoever. It mocks the character's reputation for brilliant reasoning by showing him performing elementary observations, treating mundane reality as a mystery to solve. The remaining content comprises **period advertisements** (underwear, silk fabric, Shetland ponies, burlesque theater) typical of Life's commercial pages. The Oriental women imagery advertises luxury silk products to wealthy readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1 study Why the On, and * again! cturer, hurry cently t dic- letter aid to ore if ABSOLUTELY THE MOST COMFORTABLE THE MOST DURABLE THE MOST HEALTHFUL OF UNDERWEARS Pertect Peeteres for All ers. INDUCTIVE Though it had happened a long time before, the honest storekeeper still spoke of the occur- rence with awe. “Tt was this way,"" he said. “I was standing beb counter in my store, thinking of noth- ing in particular, when a hawk-eyed gentleman walked in, followed by a quiet, unassuming chap. “The hawk-eyed gentleman, after looking all arned to me. you—er—perhaps—sell coffee!’ he ins, too, I take it.’ ir; we have a very superior line of faisins.” “He paused a while. Then, turning to me again ** Cheese?’ "Yes, Sir—good cheese.’ “At that he beckoned to the quiet, unassuming chap and whispered in his ear: “What do you make of it?’ “Not a thing.’ tson—it's—a grocery store!’ So! “‘T'm sure of it, Watson.’ ** Marvelous!” “And, signing to his companion to follow, the hawk-eyed gentleman stole away, with the cat- read, looking warily about him on all Not until after he had gone did I realize who my distinguished visitor was."'—New York Times, A wipower who was married recently for the third time, and whose bride had been married once before herself, wrote across the bottom of wedding invitations: “Be sure and come; this is no amateur performance.""—Argonaut. ea | SHETLAND PONIES An {deal Xmas gift for the children. An un- ceasing source of pleasure and robust health. SSfe, also inexpensive to keep. Our beautifully illustrated catalogue tells all about them. ‘MEADE FARM, DEPT. 0, BEDFORD, MASS. ‘OR centuries the women of the Orient have been famous the world over for their extreme luxury and elegance in matters of dress, the general preference being for fabrics of a soft and delicate nature, such as Rough Silks. pHs predilection for richer and daintier dress material has in the past few years been taken up by fashionable Bare London and New York, where Rough Silks are now the reigning fabric. This season they are more in vogue than ever before. Queen of all Rough Silks is and it is plainly the best value to be obtained in this popular weave. Its rough individuality and high satiny sheen make it more than usually adaptable to the fashion requirements of the well-dressed woman. La Tossa Silk comes 27 ins. wide, $1.25 a yard. The selvage is marked ‘‘La Tossa, a Suskana sical is is your guarantee of the genuine. te today, nf" our new booklet on Suskana a Ue Ba furnish you with a full line of ‘OU @ great many valuable hints SUSQUEHANNA SILK MILLS 28 WEST 17TH STREET - NEW YORK CITY THE BEST BURLESQUE SELLER 75,000! ANOTHER THREE WEEKS NOT by EL-N-R GL-N 25 CENTS From all booksellers and LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 17 West 31st Street, New York City comicbooks.com