Life — October 2, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This comic satirizes early 20th-century class economics and inflation. Mr. Lamb—a working man given a meager daily quarter by his wife—enters a fancy Broadway restaurant expecting a modest meal. The humor unfolds through successive panels showing his escalating expenses: a sandwich and beer costs the quarter, yet the waiter's service expectations (tipping) progressively drain his resources. He's charged for hat-checking, questioned about finding the sandwich, and pressured to tip the proprietor and waiter. By the final panel, his quarter is entirely consumed by what should have been simple items plus various fees and gratuities. The satire critiques how hidden costs and tipping culture trap working-class men, turning a modest purchase into an expensive ordeal. The "heirloom" gold watch he surrenders as final payment emphasizes the economic squeeze—forced to literally give up valuables to cover Broadway establishments' nickel-and-diming practices.