Life — September 24, 1891 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a satirical cartoon showing a crowd of people carrying large boxes labeled "QUININE PILLS" approaching a town. The verse reads: "Hark—Hark—the dogs do bark— / The Boarders are coming to town." This appears to be a reference to a nursery rhyme ("Beggar man, beggar woman, etc."), repurposed as social satire. The "Boarders" likely refers to boarding house residents or lodgers. The prominent display of quinine pills suggests the cartoon is satirizing either: 1. Health-conscious or hypochondriac boarders arriving en masse, or 2. Boarders associated with illness or disease concerns The industrial building in the background and the rural/country setting suggest tension between urban boarders and rural communities. Without additional context about the specific issue Life was addressing, the exact satirical target remains unclear, though it appears to mock boarders as unwelcome outsiders.