Life, 1901-10-03 · page 5 of 20
Life — October 3, 1901 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Life of a Twentieth Century American" This satirical page depicts the daily routine of an early 1900s American, organized in seven numbered panels: 1. **Breakfast rush**: A man eats hurriedly at the office rather than at home 2. **Two seclusions**: He repeats this pattern, "compounded" 3. **Meager lunch**: Limited to beef broth, liquid sandwich, and tea 4. **Literature occupies his evenings at home**: Suggesting he's too exhausted for family 5. **Short prayer**: A dutiful but hurried gesture before bed 6. **Sickness must not interfere with business**: Showing illness doesn't stop work 7. **Finish**: A hearse, implying death from overwork The cartoon satirizes the grueling, dehumanizing pace of modern American business life—where work consumes everything: meals, family time, health, and ultimately life itself. It critiques industrialization's toll on workers' well-being and family life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Unavent Time FoR BREAKFAST . Twomas I rea IM LATE As ir Is TU EAT ar THe orrice’ LiTeRATURE! OCCUPIES HIS EVENINGS AT Home HA Hf Mi NOT INTERFERE With BUSINESS Sickness Mus 265 Twe SECONDS Late AGAIN , CONFOUND «Fe a ij iy ENCER SHuTE ~ PASS, THE LIVE OF A TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICAN. Teew A GHoar PRAYER To THE S00 oF His BEING BEFORE RETIRING