Life — September 7, 1916 — page 24: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page of political cartoons satirizes various August 1917 concerns during World War I. The central image shows "Universal Condemnation" as a dark mountain, referencing wartime moral judgments. Individual cartoons mock specific targets: "Some Tipple" criticizes profiteering (Great Britain spending $2.5 million on intoxicants); "The Railroad Magnate Consults an Occultist" mocks business leaders seeking supernatural guidance; "Trying to Get Him a Good Hope" appears to reference recruitment or conscription efforts; "Italy Does Her Bit" uses the rooster and Corizia to comment on Italian military involvement; and "Whales in Boston Harbor" and "The 69th Forgot to Take the Barber" are humorous non-sequiturs about military preparedness oversights. The cartoons collectively satirize wartime inefficiency, profiteering, and institutional failures.