Nouveau Rich and satisfied with life

With all the bad news about the credit crisis and corrupt politicians and loss of investment values we need to take time for amusement and a laugh. Everyone is wearing a hat in the vintage automobile. The woman seems to be wearing a hat with a carrot on it! The man in the back seems to be more than a bit merry. He is clinging to a bottle. This of course is very illegal now and probably broke some law in the early 1900s. The boater on the man continued to be stylish for several decades in the 20th century. My home town of Luton, England did a roaring business in them well into the thirties.

I love the little man driving. He looks like the icon of capitalism, the evil capitalist. He does not really approve of his passengers. They are the Nouveau riche I would think?

(This was copyrighted in 1909 by the publishers of New York, American. It would be out of copyright in the USA since it was published before 1923. I am sharing this in good faith with no intent to infringe copyright - I believe it to be public domain but I am no lawyer. Please let me know if you have obtained any copyright protection thorough a derivative product perhaps and I will take this down)

The New York, American ceased publishing in 1966 read about it here.