Life, 1921-12-15 · page 15 of 34
Life — December 15, 1921 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous multi-panel comic strip depicting a man's increasingly frantic experience attempting to purchase a single stamp at a post office. The humor lies in the bureaucratic complications and social anxieties of a simple transaction. The man encounters various obstacles: officials scrutinizing his mail, confusion about procedures, interruptions from other customers and staff, and mounting self-doubt about whether he's doing it correctly. Each panel shows his nervousness escalating—he second-guesses himself, feels watched, loses confidence, and eventually resorts to sending an office boy instead. The satire mocks both modern bureaucratic inefficiency and individual social anxiety in institutional settings. It's relatable comedy about the absurd complexity of routine tasks.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Portrait of a Nervous Man Buying a Stamp in a Modern Post Office What with the officials and marines on the watch for mail bandits, Mr. Jones wonders whether it’s quite safe to go in s that his explanation ded forced and that he is r suspicion. Is quite cer- he is being shadowed z I, greatly relieved to find that the stamp clerk has gone to Wants to make a break for it, ut feels that that would fur- ish proof of his guilt. De- cides he had better wait Finally decides to risk it. Holds his letter in plain view to show that he really has busi- ness there A hand on his shoulder! Old lady merely wants to know if he can tell her where the Parcel Post is Clerk returns. Jones is so startled that he can’t remember what it is he wants Clerk returns. Jones, in a des- Perate effort to appear at ease, asks for a letter for his stamp and a lamp for his stetter Sees a policeman eyeing, him and thinks that he had better explain that he has just stepped in to buy a stamp Feels that his nervousness is beginning to attract attention and assumes air of business- like determination Stans. Clerk goes back to lunch. Jones is now certain that he’s under suspicion - cuuras Roarty Fy Decides to send the office-boy out for a stamp to-morrow comicbooks.com