Life — July 8, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This single-panel cartoon depicts a scene outside a hotel where a fisherman with his catch encounters an older man. The caption reveals the joke: the fisherman says he's been paying his guide, and the old-timer asks how many fish are in the creek. The satire targets **tipping culture and guide services**. The implication is that the fisherman has overpaid his guide for poor results—few fish despite payment. The old-timer's question sarcastically suggests the guide's incompetence or dishonesty: if there were many fish in the creek, the fisherman would have caught more. This appears to critique the common practice of overpaying service workers (guides, porters) who deliver minimal results, a social frustration of the era.