Life — December 28, 1922 — page 25: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a moral fable told in five sequential panels. A dishonest crow steals a Christmas stocking and hangs it in a tree. Greedy bears and foxes below attempt to retrieve it. Unknown to them, the stocking contains dynamite, which explodes when they rush to catch it as it falls. The satire operates as a straightforward cautionary tale about greed and ill-gotten gains. The "Lack of Principle" crow represents dishonesty; the animals represent those who would benefit from or pursue stolen goods. The dynamite explosion serves as divine or karmic retribution—the moral consequence of pursuing what doesn't belong to them. This appears to be a Victorian-era fable using animal characters to teach ethical lessons to readers (likely children or general audiences), common in Life magazine's satirical approach. The joke is that greed itself becomes self-destructive, even without moral judgment.