Life — May 7, 1908 — page 31: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts bears observing a speeding automobile marked "NEW YORK" crash through a forest. The humor relies on contrast: woodland animals (bears) are portrayed as spectators to modern civilization's rapid, chaotic progress. The wrecked car and scattered debris suggest the destructive force of industrialization invading nature. The title plays on the double meaning of "race"—both a competition and the rushing motion itself. This likely satirizes early 20th-century American attitudes toward progress and speed, mocking how quickly modernity was transforming the landscape while nature's inhabitants could only watch helplessly. The cartoon critiques industrial expansion and automobile culture as reckless forces overwhelming the natural world.