Life, 1917-10-11 · page 11 of 40
Life — October 11, 1917 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two editorial cartoons about World War I food rationing and sacrifice. The top cartoon, "Helping Wifey," depicts a woman at an oar in a boat labeled "To Starve" while a man helps row. The accompanying text discusses French soldiers cleaning their knives with bread—a dark joke about severe food shortages—and argues that Americans must voluntarily accept rationing to help feed Europe. The bottom cartoon, "That Cheerful Moment When Your Friends Tell You What You Did Last Night," shows people gathered around a hospital bed, likely referencing alcohol prohibition and its effects on social behavior. Both cartoons use humor to promote wartime sacrifice and compliance with government food conservation policies, addressing American civilians' responsibility during the ongoing conflict.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: 579 There was a story in the paper about French soldiers who cleaned their knives and plates with bread and threw it away, to the scandal of a war cor- respondent, and to his surprise, for he had heard of French thrift. But they laughed and said: “The government ay The cost of food is the great pre- ventive of waste, but when someone else pays, it is not operative. Naturally enough, servants don’t all feel it, and are apt to stick to the habits of times of plenty unless dissuaded. One hears of persons who, in new laws, have laid in supplies of spirits against the chance of sickness or of friends who require stimulation. That seems warrantable in moderation, and probably Hoover would permit it. In times like these, when so much may happen so. suddenly, one would not wish to lose command entirely of any form of energy or consolation. iew of We should all remember that even after peace comes there will be a pinch for food, and possibly a much worse pinch than now, not because we shall HELPING WIFEY not continue to raise more food than even now France needs sugar, and we we need, but because Europe’s need of must spare a share for her out of our our surplus may be still more urgent allowance. So we must; so we shall. than it is at present. Hoover says that S. Bf. THAT CHEERFUL MOMENT WHEN YOUR FRIENDS TELL YOU WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT comicbooks.com