Life, 1920-05-20 · page 11 of 48
Life — May 20, 1920 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic satirizes labor strikes and doctors' ethics during an early 20th-century labor dispute (likely referencing a doctors' strike). A workman strikes for better pay and shorter hours, then dreams he has an accident requiring immediate surgery. The doctor refuses to operate because doctors are also striking for better pay and shorter hours—creating an ironic reversal where the striker experiences the consequences of strike action. The satire's point: strikes harm workers themselves, not just employers. The workman ironically becomes victim to the same labor action he supports. The comic argues that universal strikes create dangerous situations where essential services (medical care) become unavailable, even to strikers' own community members.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WORKMAN STRUCK FoR Mowe Pay AND THAT NIGHT HE DREAMED IY HIS INSIOE AND HE AND SHORTER HOURS ME HAD AN AWFUL BAIN & DEAD MAN UNLESS HE WAS BUT AS ALL DocToRS HAD STRUCK FoR OPERATED ON In Five MINUTES MORE PAY AND SHORTER HOURS HE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR HIM AND WHEN THE WORKMAN ARWED, The AND INALENAGLE RIGHT To STRIKE, AND | HE WAG SORRY THAT THE Pusiic HAD DATOR SAD IT WAK HIS ConsTY Ve CLRTANLY WOULD NOT ARBITRATE ‘TS SUFFER BUT IT WASN'T HIS FAULT FoR. NYTHING WE HAD To Look OUT For HinseLr AND WHEN THE WORKMAN WOKE UP, NE | GREAT THINGS AFTER ALL. AND So DECIDED THAT STRIKES WEREN'T Such NExT Day HE WAS BACK AT WORK | { | fF Guorny WaLians The Striker’s Dream comicbooks.com