Life, 1917-07-12 · page 32 of 40
Life — July 12, 1917 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page targets wartime "slackers"—those evading civic duty during WWI. The cartoon depicts food control officials investigating a suspect ("Binks") for hoarding rationed goods like prunes, a scarce commodity under wartime rationing. The main article shames able-bodied people who consume resources without contributing to society, warning they'll be "found out" during wartime when their dependents can no longer support them. It frames shirking responsibility as unsustainable. The second section, "How to Get Strong," uses heavy sarcasm—advising readers to obsess over ailments and troubles during meals—to ridicule hypochondriacs and whiners. The final maxim ("To be efficient is human; to be careless is divine") drips with irony, implying carelessness is actually foolish. Overall, the page promotes patriotic self-reliance and productive citizenship while mocking those deemed parasitic or self-pitying.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MYRMIDONS OF FOOD CONTROL SUSPECT BINKS OF POSSESSING MORE THAN HIS SHARE OF PRUNES Attention, Slackers! HERE are plenty of people in this world whose principal occupation is consuming good food and spending good money without any correspond- ing benefit to society. These people are going to be hard put to it during the coming year. We have been carrying them along now for some time, and their number has increased so that they have become a considerable part of our population. Most of them have ac- quired an extraordinary kind of skill in getting themselves taken care of, which in itself requires about as much energy as if they had to support themselves. It is very difficult: for them to change, because this skill con- sists in the evasion of any responsi- bility. The war, however, is bound to find them out. They will be appre- hended, tabulated and brought out into the open, to face the music. But this process will in reality be one which they themselves will be forced to achieve, as a matter of self-defense; and for the reason that those upon whom they have come to depend will no longer have time to cater to them. Left thus high and dry, they will be compelled to shift for themselves. Thus every slacker will become a seck- er after the means to make himself useful. How to Get Strong and How to Stay So F you want to establish robust health, think and talk a great deal about things that disturb you and make you unhappy. Meal-time offers a splendid opportunity to talk over business troubles, your losses and reverses. It will be a good tonic for your wife and children. In fact, the whole family will enjoy it immensely, and it will be a great aid to digestion. Never lose an opportunity to tell your friends and acquaintances your UY), “y ailments—a subject dear to everybody's heart. Do not forget to read all the medical books you can get hold of—buying, borrowing, or getting them out of the library—especially those which describe ailments and troubles which you think you have. The information thus gained will be an uplift to yourself, and it will make you so interesting to others! Never allow other things, especially your occupation, to keep your mind off your troubles, particularly those that are physical. There is a great healing power in the constant dwelling upon and vizualizing of our afflictions, our misfortunes, aches and pains. It tends to soothe and erase them. Many people make the mistake of trying to forget their sufferings. You want to get all the good there is in their discipline, and there is a lot of it, if you only keep them vividly in mind. 'O be efficient is human; to be care- less is divine. comicbook Seca