Life, 1909-08-05 · page 9 of 44
Life — August 5, 1909 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon shows two men in hammocks with what appears to be a shared burden between them, illustrating the concept of "force of gravity"—likely a visual pun about shared weight or responsibility. Below are two satirical pieces: "The New Milkman" mocks a milkman who claims to be a "stranger" offering suspiciously cheap milk, hinting at fraud or adulteration. "The Price of Coal" references July 1st price increases imposed by coal dealers, suggesting the coal trust exploits customers by raising prices on specific dates regardless of actual market conditions. The piece criticizes George F. Baer, head of the coal trust, for manipulating prices without public justification. The bottom shows children dancing, marked "AUGUST."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ular! FORCE OF GRAVITY The New Milkman “(OOD morning, madam,’’ said the slender, solemn-faced G man with the peculiarly unnatural-looking hair.“ { am introducing my new butter, which I sell at a much lower price than that charged by other refiner—I in cream enes"* “Tt has a strange sm says the housewife, sniffing at “It smells as if it had been close to coal oil.” ctroleum, madam, is one of our greatest health-givin xplained the stranger Resides, when the gets old, you can melt it and burn it in your lamp. pounds? T you, madam We should all rejoice in do- ing good. Here are ten million dollars for your husband to build a college with."* And the new milkman stepped blithely out of the yard The Price of Coal O* the rst of July the small coal dealers are obliged to furnish tot on their books who have received coal be: that date, This al trust the names of all the customers is to prevent any coal being delivered after that date at the “reduced”? price. On the rst of July the coal dealers are more for their coal than they did on the of a ton of coal on the ist of July is worth twenty-five cents more than it is on the goth of June Why? Because George F. Baer, head of the coal trust, says that it shall be so. The real price of coal, however, is not a matter of chro- nology. It is really just as much as George F. Baer thinks he can get for it, without arousing public opinion comicbooks.com