Life — July 24, 1931 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation for Modern Readers This Life magazine page contains satirical commentary on 1930s Depression-era economics and conditions. The main cartoon shows two deer, with one asking the other about making "the team next Christmas?"—a dark joke about eating grass ("moss") during food scarcity. The "Quaint Sidelights on the Economic Depression" section mocks institutional responses: universities cutting diploma costs, Japanese temples losing donations, American banks hemorrhaging money, and colleges refusing to help students with car payments—all absurd economies reflecting widespread financial collapse. "Blacksheep" appears to be a poem about reputation damage. Other brief items satirize weather forecasting accuracy and a bank robbery attempt. The overall tone is sardonic commentary on how institutions and individuals struggled during the Great Depression.