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Life, 1909-10-14 · page 27 of 36

Life — October 14, 1909 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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Life — October 14, 1909 — page 27: Life, 1909-10-14

What you’re looking at

This page from *Life* magazine mixes literary content with advertising. The main text includes a letter purportedly from Lewis Carroll describing an absurdist conversation with a wooden doll—a gentle satire of Carroll's own whimsical writing style, playing with illogical children's-story humor (the doll melting by the fire, the confusion about which hand was cut off). The advertisements are period-specific: a 1910 Locomobile automobile advertisement emphasizes the vehicle's prestige through multiple locations, and a Hunyadi János laxative water ad uses conventional digestive-health messaging typical of early 20th-century patent medicine marketing. The "Why?" cartoon joke at bottom right plays on social awkwardness: a husband cannot find his wife; the cook reveals her undergarments are in the wash—implying the wife cannot leave the house, a domestic humor common to the era that assumes women's social immobility during laundry day. These items reflect *Life*'s mix of literary parody, consumer culture, and genteel domestic comedy typical of 1910s American magazine humor.

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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

(Continued from page $25) 1 not disobey his parents and eat pples—not even when they were ripe o knock off with a stick—but he had oging for them that he pined and passed he had eaten the green apples he died of them, probably; so that this s difficult to follow. In fact, a boy is subject to get a moral from, All his lit tes who ate green apples came to funeral, and were very sorry for what 1 done.—Charles Dudley Warner, “ Being A Letter from Lewis Carroll y Birdie :;—1 met her just outside Tom ng very stiffly, and I think she was find her way to my rooms. So I said © you come here without Birdie? Birdie’s gone! and Emily's gone! cl isn’t kind to me!"’ And two little se running down her cheeks ‘ow stupid of me! I've never told you the time! It was your new doll d to sce her, and I took her to and gave her some vesta matches to of nice melted wax to drink, for jc thing was very hungry and thirsty g walk, So I said, “Come and sit the fire, and let's have a comfortable o! not’? she said, “I'd much 1 know I do melt so very easily!” me take her quite to the other where it was very cold; and sat on my knee and fanned herself with cr, because she said she was afraid the ose was beginning to melt ve no idea how careful we have to be, she said.“ Why, there was a sister of Kl you believe he went up to the her hands and one of her hands t off! There now!"* “Of course ped right I said, “because it was t hand.” “And how do you know it was pand, Mister Carroll?" the doll said. I think it must have been the right ase the other hand was left.”” said, “I shan’t laugh. It’s a very Why, even a common wooden doll ca better joke than that. And, be- y've made my mouth so stiff and hard ! can't laugh if I try ever so much!" re cT0! 2 T said, “but tell me : : is: I'm going to give Birdie and the other 5 " ) ees pee if 10 AX. : 5 hildren one h wv evel Ts Ve PS » . \ea Te i 4) “I don't know,"* said the doll, “ ‘d better ask . s 28 Spee IS De nae? : Q Your affectionate friend, jonas (ene Bere ae Bridgeport Conn: “se Wikiee Saha that peut JEWS pay NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO for hing pains.” Genius, however, has never PHILADELPHIA SAN FRANCISCO torily defined.” | MEMBER ASSOCIATION LICENSED AUTOMOBILE MFRS: enough. Genius is the capacity for ir meals —Louisville Cour: IN THE MORNING ww ON ARISING TAKE 1% GLASS OF ia abe ear ee maa, And in the car we Are crowdedlikethis? A Quite Natural Hesi THE BEST NATURAL LAXATIVE WATER Mr. Brown, looking for fe, asked the A bottle of HUNYADI JANOS should be in every bathroom, cook “ Bridget, can you tell me of my wife’s where- abouts?’ Bridget, evidently embarrassed, hesitated be- fore replying, “I think they are in the wash, ready for use when needed. It is the most perfect Natural Laxative known—biliousness, torpid liver, sick headache and similar disorders are strangers to those who use it. comicbooks.com