Life, 1900-05-03 · page 15 of 20
Life — May 3, 1900 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon by Gray Parker depicts the daily financial exploitation of a hansom cab (horse-drawn taxi) driver in early 20th-century urban life. Each panel shows different passengers and their tipping practices throughout a 24-hour period. The joke targets the economic precarity of working-class cabmen: a lady shopper gives "no tips," a man rushing to catch a train offers only "a quarter tip," a wealthy theater-goer expects the driver to wait unpaid for his companion, and a drunk passenger at 8:15 PM provides minimal compensation ("about 15 cents"). By 5 AM, the exhausted driver—after a full night of work—is questioned "Where does he belong?"—suggesting he barely exists within society despite his labor. The satire critiques how tipping culture and passenger indifference forced cab drivers into poverty despite constant work.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
5 PM. TAKING & FARE,LATE FOR - TRAIN, TO RAILWAY STATION, A QUARTER TIP . AT THE STAGE Door ~ WAITING FoR CHARIEY ano HIS LITTLE FRIEND FROM THE CHORUS SB ISPM (FREEX Host wont Cont) DROPPING A MARRIED PAIR AT THE (ATP os BOIS AF HE NeETo Hts Z C1, avout 15 CENTS ) A THEATRE NE MEDOES NOT; 1 3 AM. WHERE Dors HE A FEW HOURS IN THE LIFE OF A HANSOM comichooks.ceyu)