Life — June 12, 1931 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation for Modern Readers This satirical cartoon mocks Depression-era solutions proposed by prominent figures. The scene shows men in an office receiving a ridiculous suggestion: a Mr. Peebles from New York wants President Hoover to "push the button and open a place at 21 West 32nd Street"—likely a speakeasy reference, since Prohibition was still in effect. The cartoon's irony is that these distinguished leaders (listed below, including editors, mayors, and Herbert Hoover himself) are being asked to endorse such absurd schemes to "end the Depression." The satire suggests that even well-intentioned prominent people were grasping at straws with impractical solutions. The piece mocks both the desperation of the economic crisis and the disconnection of elites from real remedies.