Life, 1917-04-12 · page 4 of 42
Life — April 12, 1917 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1916 political cartoon satirizes American isolationists and pro-German sympathizers during World War I. An adult and child stand before the Capitol building in ruins, contemplating destruction. The dialogue mocks someone who claimed ignorance of *Life* magazine's anti-German editorial stance. The cartoon's bitter punch: a subscriber who opposed *Life*'s pacifist critiques and pro-German leanings might have avoided the magazine—but couldn't escape the magazine's ultimate vindication when the U.S. entered the war and the predicted devastation occurred. The destroyed Capitol symbolizes the catastrophic consequences the magazine warned about. The satire targets American neutrality advocates and German sympathizers as dangerously deluded, proven wrong by historical events.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
In pro-Germany “Well, well, Uncle. Too bad, isn’t it?” “Yes, but I blame only myself. I let those pacitists and pro- Germans influence me.” “And you didn’t read Lire?” “Lire? What's Lire to do with it?” “Why, this very picture we are now standing in, Uncle, was pub- lished in the Get Ready Number of Lire, dated February 10th, 1916.” “So?” “Yes, and it was only a series of pictures on the same subject that Lire began to publish shortly after the war broke out.” “So?” . “You might have become a regular subscriber to Lire then, Special Uncle, if you had only known.” fer ' we : ” Just as well, my boy. I would have had too much to regret. Enclosed find One, Dol. lar (Canadian Open only to, new subscribers; no subserip- tions renewed at this rate. ies wil Several sample copies will be sent to 83 LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. \ any address on receipt of ten cents. One Year, $5.00, (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) \Y ae comichooks,