Life, 1917-01-18 · page 28 of 40
Life — January 18, 1917 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes German Kaiser Wilhelm II's wartime public relations efforts during World War I. The German Press Agent quote claims the Kaiser was "jovial" and "simple" on the battlefield, addressing soldiers "like a brother in arms." Oliver Herford's poem savagely mocks this propaganda. The satire's core: the Kaiser grins while "ten thousand slain" lie dead—comparing his cheerfulness to a headsman (executioner) grinning beneath his visor. Soldiers are reduced to "cannon food" and "fertilizer." The poem culminates in a curse: someday the dead will rise "like a wrathful geyser" and God help the Kaiser then. The accompanying cartoon shows the Kaiser with an agency representative spinning propaganda, while ordinary people observe—illustrating how official narratives sanitize war's brutality. The satire exposes the grotesque disconnect between imperial cheerfulness and mass death.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
108 The Jovial Kaiser On the victorious field he was buoyant, active, jovial, simple. He stood leaning on a cane that may have cost one dollar, and he spoke to the soldiers with the simple hearti- ness of a brother in arms. —German Press Agent. WIRLING a dollar cane, Jovial apprizer Of some ten thousand slain, Simple, hearty Kaiser! Jovial!—so might grin A headsman 'neath his visor. “Damn the cost so we win,” Buoyant, hearty Kaiser! The dead stare stupidly, (Who would wish them wiser?) Their dull eyes cannot see Their hearty, jovial Kaiser. Cannon food they, from birth, Now—just fertilizer, Food for their Mother Earth. Simple, jovial Kaiser! Some day when from the sod, Like a wrathful geyser, Bursts forth the seed—then God Help the jovial Kaiser! Oliver Herford. THE DOG WHO FORGETS HE IS NO LONGER A PUPPY EC RE Tai AGENCY | Sy Gal ar —— a ni for sol me sine wok nd. the, way she ats A LITTLE LATER “1 WOULDN'T THINK OF SELLING HER, TROUBLE OR EXPENSE, Long Ago MAN bearing a new custom under his arm was walking along a road when he was met by another man, “What have you there?” “A new custom for folks over yonder.” “Is it a good one?” “T don't know. That is not my busi- ness. It is new—something they have never tried before.” “What is it like? ture of it.” “It is called-the custom of kissing. Two people press their lips together.” “How absurd! I never heard of such a ridiculous thing in my life. Everybody will laugh at such a silly idea. No one will adopt it. They will be laughed out of court.” Explain the na- ONLY I'M GOING AWAY. NOT A BIT OF D A GALLON LASTS A WEEK” “T admit, my friend, that it is every- thing you say; yet it is bound to be adopted. You'll see people using it everywhere—on railroad stations, when they come, in shady dells—everywhere. You see, it depends entirely on who recommends it. Take my advice, when you spring a new custom on an un- suspecting people, always get the right doctor to endorsi The other man bowed his head. “You're right,” he said, as he saw on the end of the package the other held up: “Kiss, Cupid.” “WYJHAT killed Green? He always looked healthy to me.” “He tried to live according to the rules for attaining longevity that a ninety-year-old man gave to a reporter on a Sunday newspaper.” comicbooks.com