Life — October 28, 1926 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical illustration depicts a medieval town scene where chaos erupts around a mounted knight. The caption's subtitle "Ye Selfe Servyce" (self-service) suggests the satire targets modern self-service practices by ironically showing their supposed historical precedent. The scene shows armed figures, demons or devils, and running people in a medieval setting with castle walls. The joke appears to be that "self-service" in medieval times meant literally taking what you wanted by force—the knight on horseback and armed figures represent violent self-appropriation rather than the orderly modern retail concept. This likely mocks contemporary American self-service stores (emerging in the early 20th century) by humorously suggesting such individualistic, unregulated commerce is barbaric or lawless.