Life — April 28, 1910 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Right Boy" Cartoon Analysis This cartoon satirizes workplace hiring practices, likely from the 1910s-1920s. An adult employer interviews a young boy, with the caption asking: "Employer to Applicant: ARE YOU TRUTHFUL? 'Y-E-S, BUT NOT SO'S TO QUEEA YOUR BUSINESS.'" The joke targets the hypocrisy of business culture: the employer demands honesty as a virtue, yet the boy's candid admission—that he'll bend the truth to protect the company's interests—is presented as the actual expectation. The satire suggests that "truthfulness" in business is merely performative; what employers truly want is loyalty and willingness to lie when profitable. The rest of the page contains period advertisements for automobiles, steel tanks, and tire rims—typical commercial content.