Life — October 13, 1921 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a whimsical illustrated map of the Canary Islands, drawn by Charles Forbell. It's not political satire but rather a humorous geographic visualization—a common magazine feature showing a location through imaginative, exaggerated details rather than strict cartography. The illustration depicts the islands as a fantastical landscape populated with tiny figures engaged in various activities: people on a dome-shaped landmass, sailing vessels, hot air balloons, birdcages suspended in air, and people in clouds. The imagery suggests an exotic, dreamlike destination filled with leisure and curious wonder—reflecting early-20th-century American attitudes toward distant travel destinations as sites of peculiar fascination and adventure.