Life, 1926-10-07 · page 7 of 44
Life — October 7, 1926 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical illustration about overcrowded cable cars in what appears to be late 19th-century Brisbane (per the article byline). The cartoon depicts a streetcar (#124) packed with passengers, with the caption expressing frustration about crowding: "WHAT A SHAME! CROWDING FOLKS INTO THE CABLE CARS LIKE THIS." The response below offers reassurance that subways will eventually solve the problem: "YES—BUT HAVE PATIENCE—AFTER THE SUBWAYS ARE BUILT, THERE WILL BE ROOM FOR ALL." The satire targets urban transportation infrastructure inadequacy. The joke assumes readers will recognize the irony: that building subways is a distant, improbable solution to present overcrowding. It mocks both the perpetual inadequacy of public transit and officials' vague promises of future improvements—a timeless urban complaint.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FE Why the Gay Nineties Were Gay “Wri AT'LL it be, ° ‘Hold 3 your horses!"... Mag- ‘Throw Him Down, Carrie Nation.... ) k and sit down.’ A Bieycle Built for Two.”...The Full Dinner Pail....Weber and Fields. .-Dr. Mary Wa Libbe Yellow Pastor's boy: . + Laura - The fony “When You hg “What's the matter with -“What'll it) be, boys? son's—That’s All....Old Sleuth... Parker House rolls... - The Hootchy- tohy.. Ada Rehan... .Old Crow. a Buffalo?”... Brink rne....Oom Pa i ..° The White Man “What'll it be, boys?’. .Special Dinner, 20 Cents....Anna Held... The Cross of Gold... .“Strike Up the Band.” ateur Night... . Koster and Bi. . -Ruinart....The “WHAT A SHAME! Keeley Cure....“Wouldn’t that jar you? Moody and Sanke : “The Education of Mr. Pipp. Ward MedAllister....The Four Hun- dred. ..““What'll it be, boy: wat lustrated by Howard Py | sir?”... Harper's Weekly... Klondike. ...El Cremo. Il bel canto....Ales, Wines and Liquors. . -Reginald De Koven. -.“Just Break Mother.”...“‘Chimmie Fadden. Rector ‘The public be damned -.Puck....“After the Ball.”... “What'll it be, boys?”... Biggest in the City, 5 Cents. Cc. B.W. G. By a late Nineteenth Century Brisbane ICYCLES, being manufactured at the rate of a thousand a day, will soon be cheaper. Every man will be able to afford onc. THAT'S S. SPEED, COMFORT, ECONOMY—words that stand for CROWDING FOLK the bieyele. Any nation that rides bieyeles is a GREAT nation. ARRESTED in Providence, R. I., for going without a petticoat. There is evidence on all sides of moral decay. NO L ADY WOULD GO OUT ON A SUNNY DAY WITHOUT A PETTICOAT, OR A CLOUDY DAY EITHER. Neither would the President. Thank God for such a man in the White House. A woman was Thousands of natives in the Philippines have been massacred. Sad, but none of our business, Keep your mind on things at home. Per- no foreign entanglements. That way lies PROSPERITY. eee But don't forget the YELLOW PERIL. A man in Ohio invents a “horse- less wagon.” Some day he will go back to his grocery and DO SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD. Jokn C. Emery. INTO THE CABLE CARS LIKE TIS.” “YES—BUT HAVE PATIENCE—AFTER THE SUBWAYS ARE BUILT, THERE WILL BE ROOM FOR ALL,” comicbooks.com