Life — June 13, 1930 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Prohibition-Era Satire This page mocks Prohibition (the ban on alcohol, 1920-1933) through absurdist humor. The top cartoon shows a woman using an umbrella while a man lies sprawled on the beach—illustrating the satirical advice column "How to Keep an Ant from a Picnic," which uses ant metaphors as thinly veiled references to Prohibition enforcement. The column jokingly suggests ways to annoy an ant (i.e., a Prohibition agent/cop), implying readers should make law enforcement's job difficult. It's dark satire: adopt an anteater as a pet, tell the ant it's "heterogenous," stay away from picnics entirely. The right side features quotes from famous figures praising Prohibition, likely presented ironically to contrast with the page's mocking tone. The overall message: Prohibition is absurd and worth circumventing.