Life — July 24, 1913 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This four-panel satirical cartoon critiques wealthy investors and speculation. The top-left panel shows a portly capitalist figure hoarding water among labeled financial instruments ("STOCK"). The top-right depicts him scattering sand—suggesting worthless schemes or inflated assets. The bottom panels use natural metaphors: one shows money sinking into an ocean labeled "INVESTORS," implying lost fortunes. The final panel depicts a man perched precariously on a cliff above churning waters, titled "AND THE PLEASANT LAND." The overall message satirizes how wealthy speculators manipulate markets, causing ordinary investors to lose their investments while the powerful remain insulated. The "water" and "sand" reference the nursery rhyme about building castles—suggesting these financial schemes are fundamentally insubstantial and destined to fail.