Life, 1916-06-15 · page 27 of 48
Life — June 15, 1916 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon - "Removing the Hyphen":** Shows a doctor proposing surgery on a patient with "Homenzollernitis" (referencing the German royal House of Hohenzollern). This is WWI-era satire about German-American hyphenated identity. The "operation" represents calls to eliminate German cultural influence from America. The cowards' discussion of Tennyson's line about "Europe" versus "Cathay" satirizes American isolationism versus involvement in European affairs. **Bottom Cartoon - "If Ichabod Had Only Ridden a Motor Cycle":** References Washington Irving's Headless Horseman legend. The dark cartoon suggests a motorcyclist meets the supernatural horseman—likely mocking the "progress" of modern technology as ironically dangerous, a common early-20th-century anxiety. **Right Column - "If They Told the Truth":** Series of mock-honest confessions from various professionals (doctor, newspaper publisher, insurance agent, socialite) admitting their actual vices and incompetence. Pure satire exposing hypocrisy in respectable society—a recurring Life magazine theme.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
REMOVING THE HYPHEN Doctor: ve’s COT HOMENZOLLERNITIS, THE ONLY THING TO DO IS TO OPER- ATE, ‘am: GO AHEAD AND COWARD: I wonder what Tenny- son would write if he were alive to-day? Cowarp: He'd have to alter that line of his, “ Better fifty years of Eu- rope than a cycle of Cathay BUT I'M NOT TOO SURE OF HIS SURVIVE TAKE THE CHANCES, THE OPERATION, LL,” said the minister, “is not a place; it’s a state.” “Must be Massachusetts,” murmured a member who had spent his last sum- mer’s vacation trying to find his way about the streets of Boston. IF ICHABOD HAD ONLY RIDDEN A MOTOR CYCLE! 1131 If They Told the Truth “YYJHAT spoiled you But then, little else is to be ex- pected from people so weak-minded and irresponsible as you are.” children hav “T rarely smoke more than two cigars a day. twenty- “Yes, sir, if you are fond of second- class als, a fishless trout stream, fine view of livery stable, and a lake full of muddy water and le: boats, you should pass the summer at my resort.” “T want you to understand, sir, that my newspaper is the interests of the advertisers and controlled by the And I'm no ex- run in men who control me. ception, either.” insurance matter what “T think you'll find that policy all right, sir, No happens, there's an unintelligible clause inserted, which, inter- preted by the authorities, lets us out of paying anything.” when properly “T beg leave to announce that Iam a woman of thirty-five, married, fairly rich, moving in what is known as good so- ciety; that I have read only one half of one of Shakespeare's plays; that I know nothing but the faintest smattering of history, science or art; that I support the name of being a French scholar on the strength of a few glib phrases; that I am entirely unacquainted with current events, and that I enjoy, and have en- joyed for years, the reputation of being a cultured and educated woman.” comicbooks.com