Life — November 15, 1917 — page 20: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Life magazine cartoon satirizes a woman (on the left, appearing disheveled or grotesque) encountering what appears to be wealthy or aristocratic relatives on the right side of a doorway. The figures on the right are depicted as well-dressed, pompous characters with exaggerated features typical of Gilded Age caricature. The title "Some of Her Relation" suggests commentary on class disparity or social embarrassment—likely mocking either newly wealthy individuals ashamed of poorer relatives, or conversely, critiquing the snobbery of established society toward outsiders. The stark contrast in appearance between the two groups emphasizes the satire's point about social pretense and the arbitrary nature of class distinctions in early American society.