Life — May 1935 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Cartoon Analysis This cartoon depicts a casual social gathering—appears to be a dinner or restaurant scene—where one figure says to another: "Oh, this is nothing. I was drinking before repeal." The joke references **Prohibition's repeal** (1933), when alcohol became legal again in America. The speaker is boasting that he was already drinking illegally during Prohibition, suggesting he's a seasoned drinker with experience circumventing the law. The humor lies in treating illegal drinking as a badge of honor or sign of sophistication. The surrounding figures appear to be ordinary diners, establishing this as everyday social commentary on how Americans viewed Prohibition's end—with some treating pre-repeal drinking as worldly experience worth mentioning casually in polite company.