Puck, 1877-12-12 · page 6 of 16
Puck — December 12, 1877 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical narrative about a character named Brown whose mother-in-law dies abroad. The six panels trace the sequence: Brown prepares to welcome burglars (panel 1), his mother-in-law has a bad dream and visits (panel 2), she's magically transported via "Nitro glycerine" to Fiji Islands (panel 3), where a native chief offers her marriage (panel 4). She sends her portrait home (panel 5), and finally Brown celebrates her departure by putting bars on a window (panel 6)—suggesting he's imprisoned or caged himself to avoid her return. The satire targets the common Victorian trope of the meddlesome mother-in-law. The absurd, fantastical journey to Fiji suggests Brown's fantasy of permanent separation. The joke's point: mothers-in-law were considered such nuisances that even magical banishment to remote islands seemed preferable to their presence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PUCK. How:-Brown Lost a Dearly Beloved Relative. 1, Brown, apprehensive of Burglars, prepares a reception for them. 2. His Mother-in-law, having had a bad dream about her Jemima Jane, goes to Brown’s house at 4 A. M. to see about it. 7 > é, a a 3. And is immediately wafted, on the wings of Nitro-glycerine, on board 4. Where a native chief, deeming her too tough to eat, offers her honora- a brig bound for the Fiji Islands, ble matrimony. 5. Sends home portraits of herself, after martiage, done on bark by 6. Though bereaved, Brown still finds consolatiun! . He goes to Central Hanky-panky (National Academy of Fiji). Park and gazes at the counterfeit presentment of the Island Foreigner who has robbed him of his Mother-in-law! iE