In the early 1900s, economic disparities had become increasingly visible. Samuel Woolf offers a commentary on daily life using a setting familiar to many at the time. He depicts an inviting scene, a restaurant packed with customers while a chef prepares buckwheat pancakes in the foreground. Lights gleam across the shiny white tiles, and a display of fruits—oranges and grapefruits topped with a then-exotic pineapple—suggests the wholesome and quality food on offer. By contrast, the hungry boy peering from the outside is emblematic of an age of haves and have nots.