Life — November 30, 1911 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "Exit Bathtub Trust" Cartoon This cartoon satirizes the jury selection process in what appears to be a high-profile trial (the text references the "McNamara trial"). The tall figure in Uncle Sam-style clothing points dismissively at a bathtub, while a small child looks on. The "bathtub trust" likely refers to unsafe bathtub manufacturing or design—a contemporary consumer safety scandal. The satire critiques how jury selection systematically excludes intelligent, opinionated citizens, leaving only the most naive or uninformed ("the twelve stupidest men in the county," as the text notes). The bathtub becomes a symbol of how poorly-informed juries fail to protect public safety, making them tools rather than guardians of justice.