Life, 1916-07-13 · page 23 of 40
Life — July 13, 1916 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine (1916) contains multiple satirical pieces mocking American follies and hypocrisies: **"The Follies of 1916"** lists contemporary absurdities, including Henry Ford's failed peace mission (he chartered a ship to end WWI), the pursuit of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, and the expensive Russian Ballet craze (where audiences paid premium prices regardless of whether star dancer Nijinsky performed). **The cartoon** shows a couple in a gondola with a romantic caption that's undermined by the accompanying joke: while he promises affection now they're isolated, she responds with wartime concerns about battleship design details—satirizing how even intimate moments were overshadowed by military preoccupation. **"Steamships"** is a lengthy satirical essay attacking American hypocrisy: while the U.S. claims to value independence, it subsidizes foreign steamships while neglecting its own maritime industry, importing cheap labor that depresses wages and maintains urban slums. The absurdist ending describes seasick golfers playing on ship decks—mocking the era's obsession with leisure amenities aboard vessels.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
69 The Genius H, Irony, that I might stir the world, The sluggish, stupid world to some desire And passion by the things I write and yet Care not at all, because of you, of you, Whom all my heart and passion could not thrill! , Leolyn Louise Everett. The Follies of 1916 THE Ford peace excursion The pursuit of Villa-the-Wisp. Paying six dollars a seat to see the Russian Ballet without Nijinsky. Paying six dollars a seat to see the Russian Ballet with Nijinsky. Refusing to take out a Hyphensurance policy, Doing honor to the genius of Shake- speare by producing plays of Beau- mont, Middleton, Chapman and Percy MacKaye. S the gun complement for the new battleship been decided?” He: DARLING, NOW THAT WE ARE NEARLY OUT OF SIGHT OF LAND I'M COM- “Gracious! no; the board of strategy ING OVER TO KISS YOU. hasn't finished choosing the design for the silverware for the officers’ mess.” Steamships TEAMSHIPS are used to carry gamblers, actresses, immigrants, society queens and other undesirable citizens from one country to another. They come in various lengths to fit oceans, bays and rivers. When a man wants to build a steamship he orders some steel plates and rivets, and has a ten-story building put up; then, by clos- ing up and sharpening both ends, it becomes a steamship. It is then put on rollers, and a young girl steps up and wastes a bottle of perfectly good champagne upon it, after which it slides off on the water and is all ready for the government to subsidize. Steamships are made and owned by every country ex- cept the proud and happy liberty-loving land in which we are all trying so hard and vainly to make both ends meet. The reason why we don't own steamships is because we have been so busy subsidizing everybody else that we haven't got around to it yet. The best we have been able to do so far is to encourage steamships to bring over as many foreigners as possible, in order that our coal barons may not be worried to death all the time over their help; also to keep up our slums to the standard of efficiency re- quired by public opinion. Every respectable steamship now has a_tennis-court, a swimming-pool and a golf links. The spectacle of sea- sick golfers putting out on the last green in a northeast gale, while the band plays “God Save the King,” has become a necessity of modern travel. comicbooks.com