Life — November 11, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Contemplated Raid" This sketch depicts an urban alleyway scene from what appears to be the late 19th or early 20th century. The cartoon shows a figure in dark clothing (appearing to be a police officer or authority figure) standing near a wagon or cart, with groups of people gathered in the shadowy street below tenement buildings with multiple windows. The title "A Contemplated Raid" suggests this satirizes police enforcement actions in crowded immigrant neighborhoods. The composition—with the officer looming over common residents in a cramped urban space—likely critiques either aggressive policing tactics or raids targeting vulnerable populations in tenement districts, a recurring social concern in Life magazine's satirical commentary on urban conditions and class relations.