Life — June 1, 1922 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "At the Auction" — Life Magazine Cartoon This is a social satire cartoon illustrating a scene at an auction house. The illustration shows well-dressed figures engaged in heated bidding, with one woman (identified in the caption as "One Lady") glaring at another man (identified as "May Harvey"). The joke relies on a common social awkwardness: two people competing fiercely in an auction, driving up prices against each other. The woman's threat—"if you insist on bidding against me, I'll never speak to you again"—satirizes how people can become irrationally competitive and emotionally volatile over acquiring objects at auction, letting social vanity override rational economics. The cartoon mocks upper-class auction culture and the absurdity of interpersonal conflict triggered by acquisition rivalries.