Life, 1922-01-19 · page 8 of 34
Life — January 19, 1922 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece critiques industrial-era labor exploitation. The text describes how wages increased only ten cents per toiler's watch—a pittance—while civilization supposedly "progressed" on its "second lap." The irony is sharp: workers' lives deteriorated as production ceased, consumption collapsed, and furniture was burned for fuel. The old promise that industrial gains would benefit laborers proved false. The sketch below shows a "Tactful Clerk" presenting a pogo stick ("warranted to carry any weight up to one hundred and twenty pounds") to a woman—likely mocking how cheap distractions or frivolous goods were offered to workers as compensation for genuine economic hardship. The overall message: "progress" benefited capitalists, not workers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Vr E Progress AGES had been in- creased until the in- come of every toiler was ten cents every time his watch ticked. There was One Big Union — The World-wide Amalgamated Watch- winders. People lived upon such indigenous fruits as could he eaten directly from the trees without stooping or reaching (cither action being a violation of Union Rules). Production ceased. Consumption and disintegration, however, continued. Time, by virtue of whose elapse the gains of the toiler accrued, laid a destructive hand upon all that men, in the old, crude days, had created. Things broke, rusted, rotted, wore, tore, went out of style. Furniture and houses fell to pieces and were used for fuel, books having preceded them to the ash-pile. (This was before men forgot how to make fire.) All merchandise ceased to be. The poor working man found nothing more to buy. He began to want things, Thereupon, Civilization, having passed under the wire started on its second lap. A Plea Please Send This Letter to Your Congressman EAR SIR: We, your burdened constituents, beg that you have a bill drafted.at once which will make it a misdemeanor punishable with a ten-year sentence for any newspaper pro- prietor hereafter to employ a columnist who signs his name or otherwise reveals his identity. At present every column- ist, when he is not writing about himself, is writing ad- miration paragraphs about other columnists. As each col- umnist is also engaged in writing books he is obligated, in addition to writing constantly about himself and all the other columnists, to write about all the books they are writing. We, your constituents, are tired to death of the person- alities of all columnists. We therefore beseech you in the name of Heaven to come to our relief at once. Ned Woodman, Carin 1 naahilah tla a lelaballit | MSRM Pic DD Tactful Clerk: This is the pogo for you, Miss. Warranted to carry any weight up to one hundred and twenty pounds. comicbooks.com