Life — May 20, 1915 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "The Evils of Intemperance" This is a temperance propaganda image from May 1915, during the final push before Prohibition's passage (1920). The illustration depicts the social consequences of alcohol abuse through a stark domestic scene: a drunken figure lies collapsed on the floor with an empty bottle nearby, while clothed figures above (likely family members) appear distressed or angry. The caption "The Evils of Intemperance" makes the moral message explicit—alcohol destroys families and homes. This was standard American reform rhetoric of the era, used by temperance advocates to justify banning alcohol entirely. The image appeals to middle-class anxieties about moral degradation and family breakdown caused by drinking.