Life — January 15, 1903 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 51 This page contains health and exercise advice satirizing wealthy Americans' vanity during economic hardship. The "Health" section mocks millionaires and socialites pursuing elaborate fitness routines—using one-pound diamonds as dumbbells, wearing heavy tiaras for neck exercises, and performing chest exercises with Government bonds—suggesting they waste resources on frivolous self-improvement. The "Prosperity" section features a cartoon dialogue between a wealthy businessman and a waiter. When the businessman complains that living costs more now than eight years ago, the waiter—appearing frustrated by such obliviousness during economic depression—replies that "it's worth more to live now than in a time of depression," then sarcastically calls him a "whipped cur" for his ingratitude. The satire targets class indifference during economic crisis.