Life, 1911-11-09 · page 14 of 44
Life — November 9, 1911 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Wall Street and financial speculation during the 1920s. The main article defends gambling on Wall Street as "honest" and necessary, arguing it provides a "vent for all kinds of dishonesty" and shouldn't require further justification. The two cartoon panels titled "Ins and Outs of Wall Street" (illustrated by what appears to be a signature reading "O.C." or similar) use silhouettes to depict the dramatic financial swings affecting ordinary people. The figures shown entering and exiting suggest the volatility and human cost of stock market participation—fortunes made and lost. The accompanying advertisement for "Liris Fashion Bureau" promotes dressmaking services, illustrating how financial institutions marketed aspirational lifestyles to the middle class during the speculative boom era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DUR LAIN DRESSMAKERS ARE SPECIALLY TRAINED FOR 1030: SERV Ck; WILE SEWING YOUR Gowys TMEY EXPRCT TO ENTERTAIN YOUR HUSHAND.” and while sewing your gowns together will pleasantly entertain you with ac- counts of their last trip to Europe; ach one is provided with an electric sewing machine, and a hook on. cti- quette, and will expect to entertain your husband at meal tim Our special dressmakers come slight- ly higher, at twenty-five dollars a day, but are well worth the money. In ten s they will make a gown for three or four hundred dollars that otherwise would cost you a thousand, ‘They are all handsome, and will be an addition to ty. this Ls ay dinner ague is for Remember, the home industries; we have proved that ans are fully capable of orig ind that for- Ameri inating Cign countries ate only too eage' them, No aatter where you are, you can be as smartly dre any saleslady in New York by sending to us for full instructions or inquiring at your jocal Chapter. Lirr’s Fastion Rrroet Levcve r own styles ppropriate “LIFE: This Number AMBLING has been variously de- fended on every ground but the right one. It has been said that gam- bling is true to nature, that life itself is a gamble, that gambling is a safety valve and therefore necessary for nor- mal functions. But the only really legitimate de- fense of gambling is that it is dishon- est and therefore right. If the cham- rions of gambling would only boldly take this course there would be no answer to them. Inasmuch as Wall Street is the im- personation of gambling, the same thing is therefore true of Wall Street. Wall Street. needs no other defense than the statement that it is dishonest. That fact alone is enough excuse for its permanency. And yet the cham- pions of Wall Street go on and at- tempt to prove that it has other uses— if any other use for Wall Strect were necessary. The that Wall Street’ is fact honest—which nobody apparently likes to admit—is quite enough to glorify it in the eyes of all. You don’t have to be anything else but dishonest to com- mand respect—unless, of course, you are unsuccessfully dishonest. But Wall Street is not unsuccs fully dishonest. On the contrary, it has the country back of it cannot help but be successful. Now, the great use that Wall Street has is that it affords a kind of vent for all kinds of dishonesty. It is not only a legitimate and sanctioned means of getting rid of your wife’s superfluous cash—and not infrequently your own —but it is high toned. veryone objects on general prin- ciples to being sandbagged; but to be fleeced in Wall Street is almost like having appendicitis—it's one way of getting into society. This number is, the: neath the surface, intended to be a justification of Wall Street. If you don’t believe it, read it over again and you will see what we mean. ore, under- INS AND OUTS OF WALL STREET comicbook Meum