Life — May 10, 1917 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Song for America" Contest - Life Magazine This page announces a $500 poetry contest. Life is soliciting patriotic verses about American ideals and democracy during what appears to be World War I era (the deadline is June 18, 1917). The cartoon below depicts a doctor lecturing a patient about health, with the doctor saying coffee is "a slow poison" and the patient joking it's "internally slow." This is likely satirizing contemporary medical claims about coffee's dangers—a common health debate in the early 1900s. The cartoon uses humor to mock both exaggerated medical warnings and people's stubborn resistance to heeding them. The overall page blends patriotic appeals with domestic humor typical of Life's satirical approach.