Life — July 26, 1928 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Tollers" - A Satirical Commentary on Urban Salesmen This cartoon depicts well-dressed businessmen—identified as "The Tollers" (a pun on "toilers," working men)—carrying briefcases and wearing identical straw hats. The illustration satirizes traveling salesmen or commercial agents of the era, particularly those selling clothing or merchandise. The accompanying "Sales Talks" section mocks their pitch techniques, with a salesman explaining high-pressure sales tactics about garment quality and fit. The humor lies in portraying these working-class salesmen as uniform, interchangeable figures, despite their self-importance about selling "classy" goods. The cartoon ridicules both the salesmen's pretensions and the consumer culture they represent—suggesting these workers are merely cogs in a commercialized system, defined entirely by their profession rather than individual identity.