Life — August 28, 1919 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Satire About Class and Pretension This page contains three separate satirical pieces mocking upper-class pretension and social climbing. "Sensitive Plants" ridicules wealthy people who pose as artistic intellectuals while living privileged lives removed from reality—they discuss philosophy and art while benefiting from material comforts. "First Maid" satirizes servant gossip about their employers' extravagant parties, highlighting the gap between wealthy people's self-importance and servants' indifferent observations. "The Last Stage" appears to mock theatrical or social performances, suggesting artificiality in how the wealthy present themselves. The illustration shows people in formal dress on what appears to be a porch, captioned to suggest society photographs documenting fashionable footwear trends—poking fun at how trivial upper-class concerns appear to ordinary observers.