Life, 1916-01-27 · page 15 of 44
Life — January 27, 1916 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical cartoons mocking early 20th-century topics: **Top sections (IX-XI):** Mock-Medieval pastiche mocking Sir Tantrumme, a fictional character representing someone prone to childish outbursts. The archaic language and exaggerated illustrations parody medieval literature. **Center cartoon:** Shows two figures discussing a map of "Neue Prusssia" (New Prussia), likely satirizing German imperial ambitions or expansion rhetoric during this era. **"The Will To Do":** A prose piece mocking the Standard Oil Company's increased post-dissolution value, sarcastically praising American business ingenuity. The joke is that dissolving a monopoly somehow made it wealthier—absurd but apparently factual, exemplifying American capitalism's resilience. **Bottom cartoon:** A German-accented joke about military conscription in the United States. The overall theme criticizes American big business, German militarism, and imperial politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE™ X Ye gyaunt here ys lyinge dead— O beste of happy syghtes! (Sir TANTRUMME wonders what are worthe Ye movynge-pycture ryghtes.) Click-click ! They'll runne three hundred nyghtes. Hys launce Sir TANTRUMME set- teth uppe As here ye worlde may see, And whacks yt home between ye syxth And seventh vertebrae. Ow-wow! Ye gyaunt stikt ys he! “VOT ISS DER NUMBER OF OUR FORCES IN DER UNITED STATES?” “VELL, SINCE DEY HAFF CHUST PUT THREE OF DEM IN JAIL, WE HAFF NOW ONLY ABOUT TEN MILLION.” XI Six TANTRUMME nowe ys on ye stage Wyth trained seals and suche. Hys profyttes come yrollynge yn To beate ye very Dutche— Ha-ha! Tymes haven't changed — so: muche. F. Gregory Hartswick. The Will To Do E are astonished at the people who are astonished that the Standard Oil Company should have increased in value four times since it was dissolved. Why should not any company, after it has properly been dissolved, increase in value if it wants to? But, confiden- tially, we do not believe that the Standard Oil Company had anything to do with it. It was the Great Ameri- can People at the bottom of it, after all. They wanted the Standard Oil to do just this thing. And so they first dissolved it, and then insisted upon paying twice as much for oil as oil was really worth, just to have the Standard Oil increase. The American people said, “ When we want a thing done, it is as good as done.” Nobody can get ahead of the Ameri- can people. “COPE Why did T ever marry you?” “Because I didn’t know any bet- ter.” comicbooks.com