Life — April 26, 1900 — page 15: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This two-panel satirical comparison contrasts entertainment across centuries. The left panel depicts a Native American performer in traditional dress with a headdress, apparently representing 16th-century "Broadway." The right panel shows a 20th-century theater scene with a movie marquee (advertising "The Jeffries-Dempsey Fight" and "Maving Pictures"), where fashionably dressed pedestrians hustle past the entrance. The satire appears to mock how Broadway entertainment has evolved from "exotic" spectacles to modern commercial ventures. It likely critiques both historical exploitation of Indigenous peoples as entertainment and contemporary Broadway's focus on sensationalism and mass consumption. The contrast emphasizes how entertainment has become more urbanized, commercialized, and tied to technology (moving pictures, boxing matches) rather than live performance.