Life — September 24, 1908 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is the cover of *Life* magazine from September 24, 1908 (price: 10 cents). It features an illustration of an elegantly dressed woman wearing an elaborate wide-brimmed hat and striped blouse, drawn in the refined style typical of early 1900s fashion illustration. The small text box attached to her hat reads: "PROPERTY OF THE BRIDGETOWN CLUB. NOT TO BE MUTILATED OR TAKEN FROM THE BUILDING." The joke appears to satirize fashionable women's hats of the era—specifically their enormous size and impracticality. By labeling this hat as "property" of a club that "must not be mutilated," the cartoon humorously suggests these hats were so large and conspicuous they resembled institutional furniture rather than wearable accessories. This mocks the extravagant millinery trends of the Edwardian period.