Life, 1917-04-26 · page 45 of 84
Life — April 26, 1917 — page 45: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains patriotic verse and candy advertising from the World War I era. **The Poem "Here's to You, Uncle Sam!"** by J.A. Brashears is nationalist satire contrasting American straightforwardness with European affectations. It mocks foreign customs—British "Bobbies," French kissing, Spanish serenades, Italian garlic, Russian vodka, German "Kultur" and the Kaiser—while asserting Americans lack pretension but possess determination. The closing rallies support for U.S. military intervention ("ship ourselves across the sea / To fight, and fight like hell!"), making this propaganda poetry for WWI enlistment. **The Main Advertisement** depicts a fashionable young woman displaying a Whitman's Sampler candy box. The text praises both the box's artistic design and the candy's quality, positioned as a refined luxury item at $1 per pound—expensive for the era. The accompanying illustration at bottom ("Allow Me") shows cherubic figures, emphasizing gentility and femininity as selling points. The page blends jingoistic messaging with consumer advertising typical of early 20th-century American magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
[i Co eRea Ate “Just to show Sore ROUGE Here’s to You, Uncle Sam! W* haven't any Bobbies, As they have in Angleterre, And we never speak of Tiffin Nor centre-part our haig We never wear a monocle Or play At cricket much, Nor have we any Kultur, Like Kaiser Bill and such. We never kiss on meeting, As they do in sunny France; No Spanish senoritas To charm us with a dance. We never feast on garlic From the shores of Italy, Nor fill ourselves with vodka, Like the Russian peasantry. In fact, we've no traditions To make us see the light, And critics all agree our art Is shackled, cold and trite. No, we haven't much behind us In the way of age and art, But we've always had a record That we finish what we start. So when Uncle Sammy calls us We'll give our battle yell, And ship ourselves across the sea is diligent little maid, after the fashion of her day, has made a most To fight, and fight like hell! este eter the cover of her favorite candy-box, Whitman's Sampler. J. A. Brashears. And indeed it is a box not soon to be forgotten—dainty without and dainty within, appealing to the artistic eye, charming in the quality and originality of its sweets, $1 the pound. You may have it of Whitman's agencies (usually the leading drug store) nearly everywhere or from us postpaid on receipt of price. Ask for booklet. STEPHEN F. WHITMAN & SON, Inc. Philadelphia, U. S. A. Makers of Whitman's Instantaneous Chocolate, Cocoa and Marshmallow Whip, The Manor Asheville, North Carolina A charming English Inn in “The Land of the Sky.” ‘amous the year round for its true Southern hospitality, Perfect service and homelike informality. Most delight- now in the full blossom of Springtime. GOLF (18 holes) . Social “ ALLow ME” comicbooks.com