Life — November 5, 1914 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Thanksgiving Proclamation" This page satirizes a Thanksgiving proclamation ostensibly from the U.S. President. The central illustration shows two gnome-like figures atop a large globe/world decorated with harvest foods, suggesting global abundance being carved up. The proclamation uses the traditional "WHEREAS" legal format but subverts it with darkly humorous lines about WWI hardships: Atlantic "rages," Kaiser Bill, Belgian troubles, Parisian status, gun manufacturing, lost luggage along the Rhine, and German military threats. Each complaint is followed by "FOR THAT:" — a prayer of gratitude despite these war-related miseries. The bottom cartoon shows someone carving a turkey, captioned as "a bachelor called on to carve a turkey for the first time." The page satirizes American pretensions to gratitude amid WWI chaos and personal wartime frustrations.