Life — March 24, 1921 — page 23: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

These two cartoons satirize early automobile travel hazards and the primitive roadside infrastructure of the era. **Top cartoon:** "Whipsocket Bill" is a stagecoach driver boasting to a passenger about a previous accident at that exact spot—implying dangerous conditions and poor safety records were routine and unremarkable. **Bottom cartoon:** An automobile has broken down in rural countryside. The "Autoist" asks for the nearest repair shop, and "Mike" replies they've already passed it ten miles back—a joke about the scarcity of auto repair facilities in the early motoring era, forcing stranded drivers to backtrack or be stranded far from help. Together, these cartoons mock the risks and inconveniences of early 20th-century travel, whether by stagecoach or automobile, highlighting inadequate infrastructure and casual acceptance of frequent accidents.