Life — November 2, 1928 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily a **Smith & Wesson revolver advertisement** disguised as social commentary. The illustration depicts two figures on a road: one appears to be a traveler or hitchhiker, the other a suspicious vagrant or "hobo." The headline asks "Hitch-Hiker? Or Hobo?" The ad conflates roadside danger with class anxiety—playing on period fears about transient populations. The text suggests carrying a Smith & Wesson revolver for "protection" during travel, framing gun ownership as common sense self-defense against unpredictable strangers. This reflects early-20th-century anxieties about mobility, urban crime, and working-class people on the road. The ad markets firearms by exploiting social paranoia, positioning the gun as a practical travel accessory for safety-conscious motorists.