Life, 1914-09-10 · page 36 of 48
Life — September 10, 1914 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine (a satirical humor publication) contains several brief comedic anecdotes and advertisements typical of early 20th-century American humor. **The jokes** are short, punchy ethnic and class-based humor pieces common to the era: - An Englishman's dismissive view of Irish-French Canadians in Montreal - Scottish dialect humor about a man falling in a river - A boy's predicament about umbrella ownership between his parents - A doctor's success measured by not losing patients (darkly implying he has few) - A beggar child asking to accompany her mother **"Where He Quit"** satirizes rural farm labor: a hired man quits after nine years rather than catalog eggs by hen-name—rejecting bureaucratic indignity despite long employment. The page also advertises **Rex Beach's novel "The Auction Block"** (Harper & Brothers), promoting its bookstore sale for September 10th. The cartoon titled "Our Foolish Contemporaries" frames these jokes as social satire mocking period attitudes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FOOLISH MPORARIES ASL Unprejudiced “How many people are there here, Pat?” queried the Englishman of an Irishman in Montreal “Oh, about a hundred t’ousand.” “Why, I thought there were over half a million?” “Well,” said Pat, “there is—if yez count the Frinch.”"—Canadian Courier. Comfort Without Extravagance Hotel Woodstock New York “D've ken Mac fell in the river on his way hame last nicht?” “You don't mean to say he was drowned?” “Not drowned, mon, but badly di- luted."—London Opinion, His Only Chance “Why do you carry that umbrella, little boy?” asked the ‘passer-by curi- ously. “It’s not raining and the sun is not shining. “T know,” said the youth, “but when it rains Pa wants it and when the sun shines Ma wants it, and this is the only kinda weather I can git ter use it at all.” —Ledies’ Home Journal. Wine Jelly when flavored with Abbott’s Bitters is made more delightful and healthful, Sample of bitters by mail, B eta in stampa. C. W. Abbott & Co. Baltimore, Md. Good Business How is your practice? SSLER: First rate; it couldn't be better. I had more than twelve hun- dred patients last year and didn’t lose a single cent.—Toledo Blade. Littte Girt: Please, Mrs. Murphy, muvver says if it’s fine to-morrer will you go beggin’ with ‘er?—Punch. Where He Quit He had worked for the farmer nine years as a hired man and was appar- ently contented until his employer added poultry raising to his list of activities. Then the hired man had to write on each egg, with an indelible pencil, the date and the name of the hen that laid the egg. One day the man marched up to his employer and announced: “I'm going to quit.” The farmer was astonished. “ Why are you going to leave,” he asked, “ after working for me all these years?” “Well,” said the man, stoutly, “I've done pretty near everything about this place now, but I'll starve before I'll go on being secretary to, your darned oll hens."—Ladies’ Home Journal. STHERS PIRIESAORBZSS) OF 1014 REX BEACH novel THE AUCTION BLOCK will be on sale at your bookstore on Thursday morning, September 10th, at eleven o’clock HARPER & BROTHERS comicbooks.com