Life — October 7, 1886 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis This cartoon depicts an **angel ringing a bell** marked "OCT 1st" while pointing toward "To the City" and a distant crowd. The title "BACK TO TH OLD" (likely "BACK TO THE OLD") suggests the cartoon comments on **seasonal return to urban life after summer**. The angel figure and bell-ringing imagery suggest a call or summons—possibly mocking the annual exodus of city dwellers returning from rural or vacation areas as October arrives. The contrast between the solitary angel in the foreground and the crowd gathering in the distance emphasizes this mass movement back to city life. The satire likely targets the predictable, almost ritualistic nature of this seasonal migration, treating it as something almost divine or inevitable that "calls" people back to urban existence after their break away.