Life — November 13, 1919 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page contains two satirical pieces from Life magazine: **"The Attraction"** (top): A sketch-based joke where Mrs. Gramercy complains to Mrs. Park about managing household chaos—her cook entertains the policeman on the beat, her son tries to coax the upstairs cat to elope, and her husband flirts with the maid. The humor targets domestic disorder and servant management anxieties among wealthy households. **"Suspicious"** (below): Otis questions Chester about transferring his bank account, suspecting financial impropriety. Chester's response—he saw the bank president in a fancy car with a cashier—suggests banks themselves are untrustworthy, playing on early-20th-century concerns about banking integrity. **"If Coal Becomes Any Dearer"** (bottom illustration): Shows working-class people mining coal while ships wait at dock, satirizing coal price inflation and its economic impact on workers and shipping industries.