Life — June 21, 1923 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine Cover Analysis - June 21, 1923 This cover illustration titled "The Makings" depicts babies and cherubs being manufactured in an industrial funnel or chute system, with an angel overseeing the process. The title appears to be a visual pun on "the makings" (as in "the makings of a baby"). The satire likely comments on 1920s anxieties about modernity, industrialization, and mass production encroaching on traditionally sacred or natural processes. By depicting human birth through factory machinery, the artist satirizes concerns that modern society was becoming mechanized and dehumanized. The cherubs flying upward suggest whimsy alongside critique—the illustration balances gentle humor with social commentary about how industrial-age thinking was reshaping cultural values around family and reproduction.