Life — January 27, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a satirical cartoon from *Life* magazine depicting a social scene at what appears to be an upper-class gathering. Two seated women are conversing while other figures mingle in the background, including a chandelier visible above. The caption reveals the satire's target: class anxiety among the wealthy. One woman asks if the other has called on "new neighbors yet," and receives a dismissive response: they're "hardly our kind" because they're "the sort of people who never do anything they can't afford." The joke mocks wealthy pretension—specifically how the rich look down on those who live within their actual means rather than performing conspicuous consumption. It's social satire about hypocrisy within the upper classes, suggesting that old-money families criticize nouveaux riches not for having less money, but for the scandal of financial restraint.