Life — August 21, 1913 — page 21: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This appears to be a satirical cartoon about early automobiles and their passengers. The image shows a large, enclosed automobile with well-dressed men in top hats inside. The visible text fragment reads "in inverse ratio to horse power," suggesting the cartoon's joke concerns the relationship between vehicle power and passenger behavior or appearance. The satire likely mocks wealthy or pretentious early car owners—their formality (top hats) contrasts with the relatively modest power of early automobiles. The phrase suggests that as mechanical "horse power" increased, something else (possibly dignity, practicality, or social status) decreased proportionally. This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about new automobile technology and changing social norms among the wealthy classes adopting these vehicles.