Life — October 2, 1902 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 281 This page contains business advice rather than political satire. The main cartoon depicts an adult scolding children for being out of school, with the caption: "Boys, boys, you ought to be ashamed, idling your time away! Why are you not in school?" The children's response ("Aw, go way back and sit down. We go to night school") is a joke about child labor—a serious social issue of the era. The accompanying text, "Chesterfield Sandbag to His Son," offers cynical business wisdom about confidence, public relations, and financial manipulation. It suggests that business success depends on deception and maintaining public confidence regardless of actual ethics. The overall page satirizes both industrial-era child labor practices and morally questionable business tactics normalized in American capitalism.