Life, 1916-01-20 · page 21 of 44
Life — January 20, 1916 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes prominent political figures through parodies of nursery rhymes, mocking their policies and public failures: **"Little T.R."** ridicules Theodore Roosevelt's progressive rhetoric about democracy while corruption ("pork barrel") runs rampant in Congress. **"Ole Doc Wilson"** attacks President Woodrow Wilson, suggesting his promises to protect "Democracy" ring hollow—the nation gets nothing ("bleak and empty"). **"The Kaiser may fiddle"** references German military aggression (Austro-German forces capturing territory) while Greece's King Constantine passively watches, implying cowardice or complicity. **"Hohenzollern von Bluffet"** mocks German submarine warfare against civilian ships; U.S. diplomatic protests prove ineffective ("merely smiled"). **"Nebraska Bill"** targets prohibitionist William Jennings Bryan, who lost political power ("crown awry") after championing Prohibition, then faced press restrictions limiting his statements. The cartoons express frustration with American political leadership's apparent impotence during the pre-WWI era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LIFE* “THE HIGHER THEY CO THE HARDER THEY FALL” International Nursery Rhymes ITTLE T. R., come blow your horn, Democracy’s in the pork barrel and the bull is in the Congressional Record. Ole Doc Wilson went to the refrigerating plant To get his hound Democracy a bone. But when he got there, lo and behold! The cold storage enclosure was bleak and empty, And the hound faced four long, bleak years of malnutrition Hi diddle diddle, the Kaiser may fiddle, The Austro-German exped ry force has captured Monsstir-Prilep-Krushevo. Little Greece laughed to see such sport, For Constantine thought he should worry with his compli- mentary ringside seat. Hohenzollern yon Bluffet Sat on a tuffet Directing murderous attacks on passenger vessels. Along came a diplomatist’s note from the United States of North America, But von Bluffet merely smiled and called for a Tirpitzian encore, Nebraska Bill Went up the hill To fetch a pail of grape juice. But he stumbled on Public Opinion and came down with his crown awry. And thereafter was compelled to restrict his statements to the press to sixteen columns per diem. Ah, woe is me! “paMMit! HERE'S THAT TICKET Now!” comicbooks.com