Life, 1911-11-09 · page 7 of 44
Life — November 9, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine page satirizes financial speculation and the chaotic stock market. The poem at top mocks gamblers pursuing wealth through "Chance" rather than honest work, warning against greed. The illustration below depicts "The Stock Exchange" as a crowded, frenzied marketplace. Signs visible include "French Accounts," "Italian Princes," "American Beauties," "Bogus Titles," and "Bond Securities"—suggesting the market trafficked in dubious foreign investments and worthless securities that duped American investors. The cartoon criticizes how ordinary people ("little men that swarm, like flies") engaged in speculative trading, driven by senseless figures spouting meaningless jargon. The overall message: the stock market is a con game where ordinary people lose money chasing false promises of wealth.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Song of the Ticker GREETING! Tribe of gamblers Within a room, a multitude : Ob, greeting! bold, Of little men that swarm, like flies, Who snate art, to lose the whole; Blithe vassals of the goddess Chance. Around a blackboard thickly strew Blind dan slipp’ry way, Fond seekers after unearned gold, With senseless figures. Hark! The brood! Who bid jer, Hazard, play,— In me your Overlord behold, Reseech their god with senseless ¢ The dance |. Pay your toll! Whose castle is the truc Romance. A thing of brass, and stecl, and glass, A thing of brass, and steel, and glass, A thing of brass, and steel, and glass, I hold you in the deep morass Your master, 1; and you, alas, I bar the way; before you pass, Of Stocks. You dare not turn your You know me not—I em your Soul. Pay me my tribute, in a glance eyes Deems Taylor Tribe of gamblers say, sae Wy RUSSIA PRINCES = : GERMAN Ps os ITALIAN. (aath BATONS) He ee igs oa woeld pa ; = tis SUNT Aaa ayy TL Ree y] Domesric ARR Dy 7M) , Secunmes Fe he Pele: THY STOCK EXCHANGE: comicbooks.com