Life — March 29, 1917 — page 23: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This appears to be a satirical cartoon from *Life* magazine depicting a dystopian scene. An automobile filled with passengers drives past roadside signs advertising "GASOLINE," "OIL," and "CLOTHING" toward a dark, ominous landscape littered with what appear to be corpses or skeletal remains. The satire critiques **consumer culture and materialism during an era of industrial excess**—likely the 1920s-30s. The irony is stark: while citizens drive comfortably past commercial signs promoting goods, they're simultaneously traveling toward a wasteland of death and destruction. The message suggests that blind consumerism and industrial expansion mask or ignore underlying human suffering and social consequences. The dark sky and scattered bodies represent the hidden costs of the commercial society those billboards promote.