Life — July 1933 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Ever since beer's been legal, he's been getting made hotel from the government" This cartoon satirizes the post-Prohibition era (likely 1930s), when alcohol became legal again in America. The caption suggests that breweries have begun exploiting government auctions of defunct businesses—purchasing bankrupt hotel stock cheaply and converting them into beer distribution operations or bars. The joke targets both corporate opportunism and government inefficiency: breweries are profiting from public asset sales while the government appears unable to manage these transactions effectively. The figures appear to be auctioneers and businessmen, with the cartoon implying that the beer industry has weaponized legal auctions for rapid expansion. The overall tone criticizes how businesses manipulate post-Prohibition opportunities at public expense.