Life, 1914-07-16 · page 33 of 40
Life — July 16, 1914 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This dialogue satirizes early 20th-century American attitudes toward Mexico and military intervention. The cartoon depicts a husband and wife debating U.S. military action at Vera Cruz (likely referencing the 1914 Veracruz occupation). The satire targets: 1. **American linguistic arrogance**: The couple jokes about needing to learn Spanish, dismissively referencing Mexican words from the earlier Cuban War as useless. 2. **Military logic**: Ethel humorously exposes the absurdity of deploying 90,000 troops against 4,000-5,000 Mexican soldiers, asking why such overwhelming force is necessary. 3. **Government doublespeak**: Benton's evasive argument that sending "the army" doesn't mean the *whole* army ridicules official obfuscation about military involvement. 4. **American condescension**: Ethel's reference to Mexicans as "greasy little Mexicans" reflects period racism; the joke undercuts this attitude by showing her logic superior to male political reasoning. The cartoon lampoons both gender relations and American imperial overconfidence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A TRIUMPH OF MIND OVER MATTER Dinner and Dialogue (Continued from page 110.) war with those Mexicans now, we've got to go to work and learn a whole new language so as to be able to talk to each other about what's going on. I don’t suppose any of the old words we learned in the Cuban War, like maiiana and incommunicado will be of any use.” “They never were of any use,” con- tended Benton, “T've already forgotten what maana said Ethel. “Tt means ‘watchful waiting’,” ex- plained Benton, and Ethel accepted the statement at its full value. “Weil, anyway,” she continued, “even if we're not at war,I see they’ve sent the army to Vera Cruz. How many men have we in our army?” “About ninety thousand, I think,” replied her husband, “And how many Mexican soldiers are there at Vera Cruz “Oh, «bout four or five thousand,” guessed Benton. “Does it take ninety thousand Amer- icans to whip four or five thousand greasy little Mexicans?” asked Ethel, with considerable haughtiness. “Of course not.” “Then why do we have to send ninety thousand soldiers——" “We have not sent ninety thousand soldiers to Mexico.” Perspiration ofthe armpits, feet, etc., is unnotural. be corrected and the parts left ly clean, odorless and dry by an jonal application of Odo-ro-20. Dress abielde become unnecessary. Une scented and harmless, 2Sc and Ste a all drug and department stores, or direct from ua prey Write for bottle and booklet. Send 6c and your dealer's name to THE ODORONO lair Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. pore re | THE TOILET WATER FOR EXCESSIVE PERSPIRATION FOR SUMMER CRUISES” Cool Vacation Voyages Cruise over summer seas in a luxurious White Ship. Seenew peoples—new lands. Send for this book that gives in picture and story every detail of these de- lightful cruises on the Spanish Main. Your address on a postal brings it, if you mention Life. Plan now for your vacation. JAMAICA, HAVANA, THE PANAMA CANAL, CENTRAL AMERICA, COLOMBIAN PORTS cooler in summertime than New York—official temperature records prove this. Cruises of 18 and 22 days. Take advantage of low rates to visit the tropics, Hotel rates, carriage hire, souvenirs are much lower now than in winter. ] ‘Luxurious comfort on Great White Fleet Ships, extra large staterooms, delicious cuisine, many baths. Make the ship your hotel while in port. UNITED FRUIT CO. STEAMSHIP SERVICE Long Wharf, Boston 630 Common St., New Orleans “The papers say we have,” asserted Ethel with finality. “They say nothing of the kind,” re- torted Benton. “You can see in any paper, in big type, that the army has gone to Mex- ico,” asserted Ethel complacently. “Well, that does not mean the whole army. If only a handful of regulars had been landed, it would be perfectly proper to say that the army had gone in——” “It would?" with scorn; “ well, that only goes to prove that I was perfectly right when I said this war business was going to put us all to a lot of inconvenience. You admit it yourself You say the army is not the army, and war is not war. I suppose pretty soon you'll tell me that mediation is not mediation.” “T kind of suspect I will,” smiled Benton, as he laid aside his napkin and lit a cigar. Albert Lee, comicbooks.com