Life, 1921-09-22 · page 9 of 34
Life — September 22, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a comic strip satirizing class conflict and workplace hierarchies. William McPherson, a wealthy Wall Street merchant, walks preoccupied with financial quotations while nearly struck by an automobile. Oliver Joy, a young office boy, heroically saves him by pushing him out of harm's way—though the merchant's coat collar tears in the process. Rather than gratitude, McPherson erupts in rage over the damaged collar, nearly blinding with anger. The satire targets the merchant's misplaced priorities: he values his expensive clothing more than his own life or the boy's selfless rescue. The final panel suggests McPherson would rather die than acknowledge the collar's damage, mocking wealthy merchants' obsession with status symbols over human decency.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
September 22 The Tale of the Irascible Merchant and the Heroic Office Boy William McPherson, a mercantile person, was Intent upon reading quotations—unheeding an walking in Wall Street one morning automobile's shrilly warning A young office boy named Oliver Joy saw the And rescued the person of William McPher- automobile just in time son, receiving his thanks and a dime Said Oliver—My! Your coat collar’s awry.” For he'd rather tenfold have been killed than The Merchant with rage was near blind be told that his collar was turned up behind comicbooks.com