Life, 1917-12-06 · page 53 of 92
Life — December 6, 1917 — page 53: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a wartime satire from Life magazine (dated 1920 based on the header) offering mock "Christmas gifts" to German and Austro-Hungarian leaders during or immediately after World War I. The targets are: - **The Kaiser** (Wilhelm II): offered a typhus germ - **Hindenburg**: a portrait of "the Devil" - **Von Tirpitz** (German admiral): a noose, mocking his naval warfare that killed civilians - **Charles of Austria**: a boot-blackening brush (suggesting servility) - **The Crown Prince** ("Freddy Bill"): bags of jute to carry looted goods The satire works by presenting "gifts" matching each figure's alleged crimes—biological warfare, mass killing, naval atrocities, lack of autonomy, and looting. The cartoons on the left appear to show military weapons or machinery, reinforcing the warfare theme. This reflects bitter American/Allied sentiment toward Central Powers leadership, using dark humor typical of Life's satirical approach. Signed J.K.B.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life —— Gifts and Greetings 'O you, O Kaiser, great and grand, There being ladies here in view, I cannot tell you out of hand Just what I truly think of you; But if you'll take a little gift I think will suit you very well, T send this typhus germ to shift You out of Potsd—m into H—1. To you, O Hindenburg the great, Assassin ot the girls and boys, Slave-driver of the Teuton State, Arch-killer of all Human Joys, This portrait of your Master bold I send to grace your Yule-tide revel— You'll recognize it as your old Guide, Counsellor and Friend—the Devil. To you, von Tirpitz, gallant Knight, Who've strewed the bottom of the sea With babes and mothers cold and white, And filled the hungry sharks with glee, I send this Noose of hempen rope— I trust, von T., you'll not refuse it, And though you are a Prussian hope You'll understand just how to use it. To you, O Charles of Austria, Who have no will to call your own, Who by some freakish, chancy star, Are seated on a golden throne, "Tis hard to choose a gift aright, A present that your genius suits, And yet I send with wishes bright This Brush to black the Kaiser's boots. And as for you, O Freddy Bill, Crown Prince of Satan’s earthly realm, Master of Arts that maim and kill, Next of the Pilots at the Helm, To you I send this present small— A billion bags of woven jute To help you in your hurry call To carry off your stores of Loot. JK. B. comicbooks.com