Life — August 23, 1917 — page 28: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes fox hunting, a traditional aristocratic sport. The image depicts a chaotic medieval-style hunting scene with numerous mounted riders, dogs, and what appears to be a fox being pursued near water. The satire likely mocks either: 1. The romanticization of "the good old days" of aristocratic pastimes, or 2. The actual practice of fox hunting itself—portraying it as disorganized chaos rather than the dignified sport its practitioners claimed The deliberately archaic spelling ("ye goode olde," "huntyng") signals nostalgic parody. The scene's frenzy—with multiple figures tumbling, splashing, and scattering—contrasts sharply with any notion of elegant sporting tradition, suggesting the author viewed fox hunting (or nostalgic reverence for past practices) as absurd or worthy of ridicule.