Life — September 6, 1928 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a large uniformed military or police officer (identifiable by epaulettes, medals, and military dress) acting as a "carriage starter" — someone who manually pushes vehicles to start them, a common occupation in the 1920s before reliable electric starters. A small child in a toy car asks: "Say, mister—are you the carriage starter?" The officer replies: "I am, right—give us a push." The joke appears to mock someone of apparent authority or importance being reduced to manual labor. Without additional context, the specific political reference is unclear, though it may satirize a public figure or comment on economic/social conditions of 1928.