Life — February 15, 1912 — page 15: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes early 20th-century food safety and modern convenience problems through humorous "inventions." The central cartoon shows a man recoiling from spoiled food at a dinner table, surrounded by smaller vignettes depicting absurd solutions: - **"Cold Storage is You?"** - mocking inadequate food preservation - **"Was Killed a Year Ago"** and **"Buried in Lime"** - darkly joking about meat handling - **"Electric Indicator for Table Use"** - a device to detect spoiled food - **"Electric Sleighen for Barbers"** - an unclear convenience device - **"Joy Rider's Automatic Fender"** - a car safety invention The satire critiques both food safety failures of the era and society's obsession with electrical gadgetry as solutions. The grotesque diner's expression conveys horror at what he's eating—likely commentary on unsafe food production and storage practices before modern regulations.