Life — June 28, 1917 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "When the Summer Boarder Comes" This 1917 *Life* magazine cartoon satirizes the phenomenon of summer boarders—typically wealthy city dwellers who rented rooms in rural homes during summer months. The illustration shows a fashionably dressed woman arriving with luggage, while two local children observe her with wide-eyed curiosity. The joke targets the contrast between urban sophistication and rural simplicity. The boarder's elaborate checkered outfit and hat represent city fashion and wealth, while the plainly-dressed local children embody rural innocence. The scattered coins on the ground suggest the economic benefit—and perhaps the ostentatious spending—such visitors brought to rural communities. The cartoon gently mocks both the pretentiousness of city visitors and the rural residents' fascination with their exotic guests.