Life — September 30, 1920 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a single illustration from *Life* magazine (page 567) depicting a street scene in what appears to be colonial America. The caption indicates the house "directly opposite was built in 1722" and references a tree planted in 1734. The guide notes this is "the last man living in America who was ever—in the quaint phraseology of that day—'soused.'" The cartoon satirizes an elderly gentleman, likely meant to represent someone from the colonial era, as a relic of the past. The anachronistic figure and the emphasis on archaic language ("soused," meaning drunk) create gentle humor through juxtaposition: a man whose behaviors and vocabulary belong to centuries past, now walking through a modern street where children and other contemporaries pass by. The satire mocks outdated customs and generational disconnect.