Life — October 2, 1924 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "This Little Pig Went to Market" — October 2, 1924 This satirical illustration plays on the nursery rhyme to mock the meatpacking industry, specifically Chicago's famous stockyards. The fashionable flapper woman—dressed in the checkered pattern of butcher's cuts—*is* the pig being sent to market. Her cheerful pose and stylish appearance contrast sharply with her fate: she's literally being packaged for sale, as shown by the crate labeled "STOCK YARDS CHICAGO ILL." The satire likely critiques how women were objectified and "marketed" in 1920s consumer culture, or possibly comments on labor exploitation in the meatpacking industry. The innocent nursery rhyme framing makes the dark humor particularly pointed—what seems charming on its surface masks something sinister.