Life — September 18, 1919 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Day in the Life of the Consumer" Comic Strip This multi-panel cartoon satirizes the widespread strikes affecting 1920s America. A man encounters closed businesses throughout his day—elevators, trolleys, restaurants, theaters, hotels—all shuttered due to labor strikes. Each panel shows him frustrated by a different service disruption, with workers' strike notices visible. The satire targets both labor organizers and the ripple effects of strikes on ordinary citizens. The "consumer" (ordinary person) becomes collateral damage, unable to access basic services. The cartoon suggests strikes, while perhaps justified, cause hardship for the working public who depend on these services. The accompanying articles discuss marriage obedience and Senate proposals for social reform, linking labor unrest to broader Progressive-era social anxieties about social order and change.