Life — June 18, 1925 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical illustration depicts five stereotyped character types of the 1920s era, each wearing a sweater emblazoned with text expressing their personality or values. The figures are labeled "The Broker," "The Bootlegger," "The Jazz Baby," "The 100 Per Cent American," and "The Efficiency Expert." Each sweater displays slogans and symbols reflecting contemporary concerns: stock market trading, Prohibition-era smuggling, jazz culture, patriotic nationalism, and industrial productivity metrics. The tagline "Let Your Sports Sweater Express Your Personality" suggests that consumer goods reveal one's social identity and values. The satire mocks 1920s American society by reducing diverse personalities to easily recognizable commercial stereotypes—implying that identity itself had become commodified during this era of mass consumption and cultural standardization.