Life — May 16, 1912 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon depicts a large silhouetted head filled with caricatured figures representing Pittsburgh residents engaged in various activities. The figures appear to be wealthy industrialists and citizens, many holding money bags marked with dollar signs, suggesting themes of wealth and capitalism. The cartoon satirizes Pittsburgh's reputation as an industrial, profit-driven city obsessed with money-making. The "favorite diversion" caption implies that accumulating wealth and conducting business are the primary pastimes of Pittsburgh's citizens, rather than cultural, artistic, or philanthropic pursuits. The style—a head-shaped composition filled with busy commercial figures—was a common editorial cartooning technique of the era to represent a city's character or collective mindset. This appears to be gentle satire targeting industrial cities' perceived materialism during the early 20th century.