Life — November 20, 1919 — page 22: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This comic strip satirizes a carpenter's workday during what appears to be a labor dispute era (likely early 20th century). The sequence shows a worker repeatedly striking his hammer against a nail, but the joke escalates absurdly: he strikes in preparation for a meeting, walks a delegate, attends meetings to vote on strike questions, strikes in solidarity, and finally—in the punchline—the "whistle blows," suggesting the entire day consisted of strike-related activities rather than actual work. The satire criticizes labor unions or strikers by suggesting they spend more time organizing, meeting, and preparing for strikes than performing actual labor. The repeated hammer motif becomes ironic: the tool meant for work becomes a symbol of labor activism instead.