Life, 1911-06-22 · page 20 of 44
Life — June 22, 1911 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine cartoon mocks wealthy capitalists using patriotic rhetoric to distract working people from economic hardship. An orator delivers grand speeches about democratic equality and individual sovereignty, then distributes symbolic "crowns" to the audience—metaphorically offering dignity instead of wages. The cruel punchline reveals the reality: within a week, people must pawn these worthless crowns to pay butchers for food, suggesting the working class remains impoverished despite flowery democratic ideals. The lower cartoon satirizes the upper class's indifference—the wealthy attend musical performances and worry about entertaining a bored duke, completely disconnected from workers' genuine struggles for survival. The satire targets how capitalists use patriotic propaganda to maintain class inequality while the poor face material deprivation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE FAILS THE CAPITALISTS CAN TRY THIS Orator: We LIVE UNDER THE GRANDZST GOVERNMENT IN THE WORLD'S MISTORY—WE ARE A PEOPLE THAT KNOWS NO MONARCH OF DIVINE PRETENSE, THAT ACCEPTS NO ERMINE OF HEREDITY NOR BENDS THE CALLOUSED KNEE TO MITRED MIGHT. DUT, INSTEAD, WE REGOGNIZE THAT EVERY CITIZEN 1S A SOVEREIGN IN MIS OWN RIGHT—THAT EACIC INDIVIDUAL 18 A KING AND RULES THE DESTINIES OF A GLORIOUS COMMONWEALTH. IN CONCLUSION, GENTLEMEN, I HAVE A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR YOU—AS YOU PASS OUT OF THE MALL LACH OF YOU WILL BE PRESENTED WITIC A BEAUTIFUL CROWN. (A Week Later They Pawn Them to Pay the Butcher.) “ JOUN, 1 FEAR OUR MUSICALE 1S A FAILURE, DOESN'T (ee ARPWALKER- TILE DUKE SEEM A TRIFLE Borep?” comicbooks.com