Life, 1917-10-18 · page 27 of 40
Life — October 18, 1917 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes various civilian character types being drafted into military service. Each vignette depicts a recognizable social stereotype forced into army life: - "The Man who never would carry a bundle" - depicting someone unaccustomed to labor - "The Exhibition Dancer" - a vain performer learning discipline - "The Man who was always afraid of taking cold" - a hypochondriac - "The Dyspeptic" - someone with digestive complaints - "The Blasé man-about-Town" - a sophisticated urbanite - "The Man who always had insomnia" - now sleeping in barracks The headline "THEY'RE IN THE ARMY NOW" suggests this reflects WWI-era conscription, when diverse civilian populations were drafted. The humor relies on contrasting these men's former leisured or neurotic civilian identities against the regimented demands of military service, implying that army life will "cure" their affectations and complaints.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The tan who never anna would carry a bundle < The Exhibition Dancer wman-about-Town s getsapenny Post Card The Man who oles; The man who svas alwoys Ofraid of taking cold ys bod Insommia THEY'RE IN THE ARMY NOW comicbooks.com