Life — February 17, 1921 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Running the Gauntlet at Palm Beach" This cartoon satirizes the social scene at Palm Beach, Florida—a wealthy resort destination. The illustration shows fashionably dressed people (likely wealthy socialites and tourists) navigating through a crowded, ornate columned space, suggesting the gauntlet of social encounters and judgment one endures in high society. The "gauntlet" metaphor implies this is an ordeal—perhaps mocking how the wealthy must constantly display themselves, encounter rivals, or maintain their social standing in such exclusive spaces. The elaborate architecture and numerous figures emphasize the pretension and crowded competitiveness of the resort's social hierarchy. This reflects early 20th-century American satirical commentary on wealthy leisure culture and social pretension.