Life — February 27, 1919 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This single-panel cartoon depicts two men in formal attire (top hats and overcoats) engaged in conversation. The caption reveals the joke: one man asks if the other enjoyed his hospital stay. The response mocks the high cost of medical care—forty-five dollars weekly to watch "the doctor make love to the nurse"—compared to seeing the same thing in movies for ten cents. The satire targets early 20th-century hospital economics and costs, suggesting that patients were being overcharged for basic care. It also plays on period humor about romantic workplace behavior between doctors and nurses. The cartoon's point: hospitals exploit patients financially while providing entertainment value comparable to cheap cinema.