Life, 1914-10-01 · page 30 of 48
Life — October 1, 1914 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page addresses post-World War I Europe's recovery and its appeal to American tourists. The main article anticipates Americans' eventual return to European travel, acknowledging that Europe needs tourist money desperately after wartime devastation. However, adventurous tourists won't wait for full reconstruction—they'll visit while ruins and repairs are still underway. The cartoon "The Germ in Germany" (bottom left) depicts Germany as a diseased, parasitic creature—a harsh caricature reflecting anti-German sentiment common in post-war American satire. It suggests Germany itself is a threat or infection to Europe. The illustration "The Pest Who Comes in Late" shows a skeleton, likely representing death or war's aftermath, among wreckage—evoking the battlefields and casualties Europeans must clean up. The sidebar "To the Dictionaries, Men!" humorously advises readers to learn military terminology to appear knowledgeable in social settings, satirizing how wartime vocabulary had permeated everyday discourse.
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586 Europe and the Tourists OW long will it take us to get back the European tourist habit? It is too early to say, because we don’t know yet how much of Europe will be left when she is ready to re- sume business. If her new ruins are interesting Americans will want to see them, If her old stock remains for the most part unimpaired, it will con- tinue to draw. The fall season of this year is spoiled for tourists, and it does not seem possible that Europe can be cleaned up for the spring trade. But we shall sce. Those on whom the go- to-Europe habit is fixed must cither go on with it or form some new habit, and it is much casier to fall back into an old habit than to form a new one. The return of the American tourist will be expedited by the sympathies of America and by the fact that Europe will need the tourists’ money—if he still has money—as she never did be- fore. Poor Europe! After her cnor- mous losses and expeditures, she will welcome anyone who can pay. First there must be peace; then she must have time to get out of the hos- pital, cleanse the battlefields, filter the water, resume railroading and reopen the hotels. But the more adventurous tourists will not wait for repairs to be completed. It will interest them to see them go on. It is a mistake to think that because so many thousand American tourists had such a terrible time of it getting home this year they ‘won't go back. Not all of those, but just as many more will go. Habit is stronger than fears, and curiosity is stronger than cither, BANKER is a go-between for those who don't want to do any- thing with their own money and those who want to do something with some- body else's money. THE GERM IN GERMANY THE PEST WHO COMES IN LATE To the Dictionaries, Men! T is a splendid chance to increase one’s vocabulary. All those peo- ple who expect to command the attention and respect of casual argu- mentative groups at the club and else- where should brush up immediately on all terms pertaining to war and military maneuvers. Have .a clear notion of the definitions, denotations, connotations, shades and gradations of meaning of such words as/arbitra- ment, mobilization, palestrical, calumet, logomachy, bellicoce, amnesty, castra- mentation, armigerous, diplomatic, con- traband, international jurisprudence and so on, comichookss