Life — March 10, 1927 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Cartoon Analysis The main cartoon depicts two women in a garden setting with the caption: "Quick, Fifi, lay a smoke screen—there's that piece of poison ivy looking for a dance." This is a social satire about romantic pursuits. "Poison ivy" was slang for an undesirable or dangerous woman—likely someone considered morally loose or a "gold digger." The women are humorously portrayed as needing to hide from this threatening figure. The joke plays on contemporary anxiety about certain women and dating culture of the era. The surrounding "Life Lines" section contains brief satirical notes on current events, including references to insurance, the Ford plant's five-day work week, Chinese civil war, and Wall Street banking failures. These are typical of *Life* magazine's humorous commentary on contemporary social and political topics.