Life — July 15, 1926 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Alarm" - The Gay Nineties This cartoon depicts a man (labeled "Mr. Suburbs, the bookkeeper") frantically calling his wife about a bank robbery. He's panicked that bandits have stolen fifty thousand dollars in cash and securities from the First National Bank, and worries the back door of his home isn't locked. The sketch satirizes middle-class anxiety during the 1890s about crime and property security. The contrast between the massive bank heist and the suburban homeowner's petty concern about his own back door illustrates how ordinary people's worries about theft trickled down from major crimes to minor household security. The accompanying illustration shows a chaotic street scene typical of period crime-scene imagery.