Life, 1917-02-01 · page 13 of 40
Life — February 1, 1917 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This **Life magazine** page features a winter social scene with multiple figures in formal dress. The cartoon's caption quotes a character named Helen discussing envy and a "sealskin coat like Polly Gardener's" — suggesting wealthy competition over luxury goods. The accompanying text discusses diplomatic tensions, likely referencing **President Wilson's diplomatic notes** regarding German conduct (probably WWI-era). The commentary mocks both the diplomatic language and the incompetence of belligerents' statements. Below, a brief dialogue between "Willis" and "Gillis" jokes about office politics and inefficient bureaucratic systems. The overall page satirizes **American society during wartime** — contrasting trivial wealthy concerns (fur coats, office gossip) with serious diplomatic failures and governmental dysfunction.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EXTREMELY $0.” EN I’M AFRAID I'LL HAVE TO GET A SEALSKIN COAT LIKE POLLY GARDNER'S.” man talk was ludicrously inconsistent with previous German conduct. Nobody expects the mass of the British people to read a diplomatic document understandingly and with regard to context and situation, or get anything right the first time. But Mr. Noyes, though a poet, ought to be able to read and get the sense of what is written. It is disappointing that in this case of the Wilson note he didn’t. But he failed no worse than our gifted Colonel Roosevelt, also a poct, but known these many years to be liable to fogginess about the meaning of words. The assertion in Mr. Wilson's note was not that all the belligerents had the same aims, but merely that they all said they had. The comment, “ Bel- gium gives the lie to German words,” may properly enough be made by pri- vate individuals like Mr. Noyes or Colonel Roosevelt, but hardly in a pre- liminary diplomatic note by President Wilson. Nevertheless, the President's note was defective in not making it more clear that he was quoting a German statement of German aims, and not himself defining them. Happily, the Allies’ reply showed that at headquar- ters, at least, he was not misunder- stood. E.S. M. O one would complain of a leak in Wall Street if it let the water out of some of the stocks. What Wages for the Sentry Suffs ? HOSE Suffs that are guarding the White House ought to have waited till spring. The Washington climate is capable of very unfeeling conduct in February and even March. By the way, who pays them, and how much? And if they get pneumonia, is anyone responsible? ILLIS: Bump has a very up-to- date office. Guus: Yes. He has one of these office-systems where you can find just what you want when you don’t want it by looking where it wouldn't be if you did want it. comicbooks.com