Life — July 12, 1928 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of This Life Magazine Page **Top Cartoon:** Shows a working-class man asking his boss about his wife's laundry work, mentioning she was "run down by a big truck last week." The joke satirizes workplace indifference—the boss only cares whether the wife can still do washing, not her injury. This reflects early-20th-century labor attitudes where workers' welfare mattered less than productivity. **Bottom Cartoon:** Depicts children asking their mother for a "cocktail shaker," likely satirizing Prohibition-era American life. The humor lies in children casually requesting alcohol-related items during the period when alcohol was illegal, mocking how pervasive drinking culture remained despite the ban. Both cartoons use working-class scenarios to critique social attitudes of their time.