Life, 1911-03-09 · page 12 of 44
Life — March 9, 1911 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece addresses New York's Board of Aldermen passing an ordinance against street ticket scalpers. The top illustration shows a demonic figure perched over the city skyline—representing the ticket speculator as a predatory threat to New York. The article criticizes the ordinance as ineffective, predicting it won't stop scalpers from profiting. It sardonically suggests the real problem is that wealthy patrons and theater managers benefit from scalping, making enforcement unlikely. The two oval illustrations appear to depict theater-goers complaining about missing a show due to scalping. The joke implies that despite official crackdowns, the corrupt practice will persist because those in power have financial incentives to allow it—a critique of municipal hypocrisy and corruption.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A RICH PASTURE Ta Ta, Mr. Ticket Speculator HAT happened to New York’s Board of Aldermen? Can it be possible that Tammany Hall passed the word that the ticket-speculators had grown too bold and ruffianly in their methods and that the Aldermen must pass some kind of an ordinance whi would be a sop to the public? Tt is a fact that an ordinance has been passed the Aldermen, and signed promptly by Mayor Gaynor, which imposes a fine of ten dollars or ten days’ imprisonment on any- one making a business of selling or offering for sale theatre tickets on the streets of New York. This new local law becomes eficctive within a few days of the time this appears It remains to be scen whether the police will enforce it, whether some complaisant police magistrate won't think it unjust to keep an individual from making his living by insulting citizens and their wives, and whether some clever lawyer won't be able to convince some technical judge that the ordinance is If the ordinance gets by all these defences and managerial collusion with swindlers of their patrons still continues, it will be up to Lire to modify a familiar state- Dy Jove! she wae a winsome maid, PENCE 206) After the ball was o'er, A speculator in the lobby or in a near-by place of business But, boys, if you had only seen her means a crooked manager in the theatre. Just a few hours before. Her lips were of a rosy shade, And little curls sbove her brow had strayed— comicbooks.com