Life, 1921-06-23 · page 21 of 36
Life — June 23, 1921 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the excessive wealth and leisure of W. L. Douglas, a prominent shoe manufacturer and industrialist. The image depicts his home as absurdly opulent: a grand piano, elaborate curtains, ornate ceiling fixtures, and scattered shoes everywhere—a visual pun on Douglas's shoe business. The joke targets the disconnect between industrial titans' luxurious lifestyles and ordinary workers' circumstances during the 1920s. The title mockingly refers to wealthy businessmen as "Generals of Industry," treating them like military commanders, while the scene's excess—particularly the carelessly strewn expensive shoes—suggests wasteful frivolity. This reflects post-WWI American anxieties about wealth inequality and corporate power, common satirical themes in *Life* magazine's social commentary. The cartoon uses domestic absurdity to critique industrial magnates' detachment from economic reality.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
» the time it takes to print Lire, uld verify from the daily news: © continuance of the attractions at 5 mentioned, The First Year. Little—The funniest play of the season and all about you and your family, Honeydew. Casino.—Return engagement of Zimbalist’s score. The Dumbbells. Ambassador —Canadian at ‘ The Ghost Between, Thirty-Ninth Si war veterans in a lively entertainment. More: or'Tese; Serious A curious mixture of good and bad The Last Waltz. Century—A good old- ‘ Morosco.—Terrific nerve strain, Arthur Byron making the most of the good. fashioned comic opera, full of hussars’ uni- pleasure. The Gold Diggers. Lyceum—Next to the forms, funny clowning by James Barton, cee.—Not Eugene O’Neill’s best Oldest play in town. and Straus music splendidly sung by Eleanor ay, but Willard Mack's best acting. Just Married. Shubert—A honeymoon Painter. The Green Goddess. Booth.—Sly crime and other things on board an ocean liner. Love Birds. Apollo—Pat Rooney in a , the Himalayas, performed in a polished Very amusing when Lynne Overman is on show of his own. The show isn't much, but passer by George Arliss. deck, at other times just rough. a lot of people like Pat Rooney. ut Liliom. Fulton.—A splendid combination Ladies’ Night. Eltinge.—Well, it seems Sally. New Amsterdam.—You won't find f fantasy and realism in an account of there were these three men who got into anything any better than this, what with st iliom’s career on earth and in Heaven. a Turkish bath on ladies’ night by mistake Marilynn Miller, Leon Errol and plenty of > Miss Lulu Bett. Belmont.—Recently 29d—have you heard this one before? good music and ‘dancing. of warded the Pulitzer prize for 1921 and Lightnin’, Gaiety.—Greek drama, by Shuffle Along. Sixty-Third St—Worth orthy of i Euripides. Very good. the trip up-town just to see how these The Tyranny of Love. Cort.—A French Mr. Pim Passes By. Henry Miller-—De- ‘olored singers and dancers enjoy their marital unpleasantness, translated p late that it now borders on burlesque in pite of excellent cast. Comedy and Things Like That The Broken Wing. Forty-Eighth St— he artistic pinnacle of the piece is reached hen a full-sized airplane crashes into a Hexican dwelling. Hlassic | lightful little English comedy, nice and mild. Nice People. Klaw.—A warning to the youth of to-day, entertaining during the hor- rible example parts. Eye and Ear Entertainment The Broadway Whirl Times Square— To be reviewed next week. work, Snap-Shots of 1921, in this issue. Two Little Girls in Blue. George M. Cohan’s—Pleasant music well danced. The Whirl of New York. Winter Garden, ~—To be reviewed next week. Ziegfeld Follies. Globe.—Reviewed later. Selwyn.—Reviewed INTIMATE GLIMPSES OF AMERICAN GENERALS OF INDUSTRY—No. I A QUIET EVENING IN THE HOME OF W, L. DOUGLAS, comicbooks.com