Life — December 23, 1920 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine Cartoon Analysis The cartoon titled "NO SUCH LUCK" by James Montgomery Flagg depicts two men in conversation. One asks a third party about a man whose "eyes were pools of blue" but who is "wry faced." The questioner notes: "It's not a case of luck; It's a look I achieve from home-brew!" This is a Prohibition-era joke. The cartoon satirizes homemade alcohol production during Prohibition (1920-1933). The "wry face" results from drinking poorly-made homebrew liquor—the implication being that bad homemade alcohol causes physical distortion or grimacing. The joke's humor lies in the man's deliberate, ironic claim that his unpleasant facial expression is self-inflicted through his own brewing efforts, rather than natural misfortune.