10 Story Book, August 1938 — page 52: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a single-panel cartoon illustration, likely from an early-20th-century American humor or general-interest magazine. The cartoon depicts two women meeting on a street; the woman on the left, wearing an elaborate fur coat, boasts to her companion about purchasing the coat "on time," adding emphatically "and what a time it was!" The humor appears to derive from a double meaning—the phrase "on time" (meaning on an installment plan) is contrasted with "what a time" (suggesting the shopping experience was eventful or difficult). The cartoon is signed "FREEBURN" and uses simple black ink line work typical of period comic illustrations.