Life — August 7, 1919 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine contains a satirical illustration titled "You like to pick flowers too, don't you, daddy?" showing an adult and child in a rural meadow with wildflowers and a bicycle. The accompanying text, "Back to Nature," critiques the fashion industry's expense and argues that clothes are becoming prohibitively costly. The satire suggests that people—especially the poor—should abandon expensive clothing and return to a simpler, natural state to achieve health and wellbeing. The illustration ironically depicts this "back to nature" philosophy: a father and daughter picking flowers outdoors, presumably freed from restrictive clothing. The text explicitly states clothes are becoming too expensive and argues that Providence might intend people to abandon them entirely for physical fitness and tranquility. This reflects early 20th-century primitivist and anti-consumerist social commentary.