Life — August 9, 1923 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Impressions of a Policeman Diverting Traffic" This is a humorous illustration series showing exaggerated physical contortions and gestures. The caption identifies the subject as a policeman directing traffic. The joke relies on visual comedy: rather than depicting realistic traffic control, the artist (Jim Barrera, per the signature) shows a single uniformed officer performing increasingly absurd bodily contortions—handstands, splits, backbends, and impossible poses—as if his body itself were the traffic signal or barrier. This satirizes either the physically demanding nature of traffic police work or, more likely, the theatrical, exaggerated gestures officers made while directing vehicular and pedestrian flow (before electric traffic lights became standard). The humor comes from taking the officer's job literally—his body becoming the instrument of traffic control through increasingly ridiculous acrobatic positions.