Life — September 22, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Tale of the Irascible Merchant and the Heroic Office Boy" 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.