Life, 1926-03-11 · page 24 of 40
Life — March 11, 1926 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes President Herbert Hoover's detachment from ordinary American concerns during the Great Depression era. **The Main Cartoon:** depicts construction workers (likely subway workers, given the "durt" reference) discussing what happens to all the excavated dirt they remove. The joke criticizes how distant the President seems from such mundane, practical realities affecting working people. **"I Wonder What a President Thinks About":** The article parodies Hoover's supposed preoccupations—weather conditions, lunch menus, coal policy—presented as trivial or disconnected from real problems. It contrasts the President's abstract concerns with citizens' practical worries (like whether letter carriers have proper stockings, or who buys pulp magazines). **The Tightrope-Walker cartoon** (center) reinforces the metaphor: the President must walk a narrow path, avoiding straying from protocol. **"Worth the Price":** a brief joke about building investments and finding bourbon in cornerstone deposits—likely mocking frivolous spending or corruption. Overall, the satire suggests Hoover is mentally disengaged from Depression-era hardship, focused on trivial matters while ordinary Americans struggle with practical concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
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