Life — October 29, 1914 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page depicts "The Good Old Days," satirizing Stuart-era (17th-century England) social customs through six comic panels. The sequence shows a gentleman attempting to keep an appointment, experiencing increasingly chaotic mishaps: physical mistreatment, rowdy tavern scenes, and general disorder. The title's irony suggests the cartoonist is mocking romanticized notions of historical "good old days" by depicting the Stuart period as rough, violent, and disorderly rather than dignified. The exaggerated illustrations—with wild hair, physical comedy, and mayhem—reinforce this satirical critique. The work appears to target nostalgic attitudes toward history by revealing the crude reality beneath period mythology, using humor to undermine idealized historical romanticism popular in early 20th-century America.