Life, 1917-04-05 · page 31 of 70
Life — April 5, 1917 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Satire: "The High Cost of Living"** This parodies Lewis Carroll, depicting a husband repeatedly misperceiving meager wartime food as luxurious dishes. His wife reveals each "vision" is actually cheap substitutes—stew instead of venison, bread instead of steak, drumsticks instead of duck, dandelion greens instead of pork. The final joke: when offered an "omelet soufflé," he neighs like a horse, suggesting even he has become animal-like from deprivation. This satirizes severe food rationing and inflation during what appears to be World War I. **Secondary Satire: "Mexico's Magnificent Menu"** Mocks Mexico's new constitution as offering grand promises (representative government, eight-hour workday) while actual conditions remain primitive—only beans, coffee, and ham-and-eggs available. The joke about President Wilson being "too proud to write" references U.S.-Mexico tensions. **Bottom Cartoon** A domestic humor piece about competitive childbearing, unrelated to the political satire above.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME” The High Cost of Living (With Apologies to Lewis Carroll) H thought he saw some venison made into a ragout; He looked again and saw it was a veg-e-table stew. “It’s all that I could find,” she said, “ you've got to make it do.” He thought he saw a sirloin steak, with onions thickly He looked again and saw it was a loaf of baker’s bread. “It's smaller than it used to be, but yet it’s fresh,” she said. He thought he saw a roasting duck—the vision made him shriek; He looked beaks “We ought to cat them now,” from last week.” in and saw it was two drum-sticks and a she said, “I saved them le thought he and bean: He looked again and saw it was some dandelion gree “IT picked them in the yard,” she said, “ they're quite with- in our means.” aw a steaming dish, heaped high with pork He thought he saw upon his plate an omelet souffle; He looked again and saw it was a little heap of hay. “Come, won't you pass your plate again?” He loudly an- swered, “ Neigh.” Burges Johnson. Sa Member of Congress, isn't he?" “Sh! tioned.’ His family have asked not to have it men- Mexico's Magnificent Menu EXICO has a very fine, new, modern constitution, which assures Mexicans everything from representa- tive government to the eight hour day. The trouble is that it is so much too much like a Waldorf bill-of-fare at a railroad lunch counter, The dishes that are ready on the Mexican board are sinkers, beans and coffee, as heretofore, with ham and eggs to order if the train stops long enough, “DAPA, when will we know that we are at war?” “When President Wilson is too proud to write.” “OH, MOTHER! MRS. THOMAS HAS A NEW BABY! YOU AREN'T GOING TO LET THEM GET AHEAD OF US, AKE YOU?”