Life, 1917-12-13 · page 25 of 40
Life — December 13, 1917 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the German Kaiser and Kaiserin during World War I. The dialogue portrays them as hypocritical and indignant about Americans allegedly intercepting diplomatic correspondence—specifically documents revealing German plans to bomb hospitals and murder civilians in neutral countries. The satire's core joke: the Kaiser complains about Americans' lack of honor and morality while casually admitting to war crimes. The Kaiserin worries Americans lack "nobility," yet the couple ends their moral indignation by simply ordering pretzels for the evening—suggesting their outrage is performative and shallow. The bottom cartoon, "A Millionaire Several Times Over," likely references profiteering or wealth accumulation during wartime, though details are unclear from the visible text. This reflects American anti-German sentiment during WWI, depicting German leadership as simultaneously ruthless and absurdly self-unaware about their own moral failures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Potsdam Interlude s evident to the Kaiserin that her was in an evil from a «and master or. He kicked which obstructed his way, and the leg ged his sword down on the grand violence that the bass Trem- vo with sucl s vibrated sonorously ith apprehension, the Kaiserin wd two stitches, Bah!" «mute “These yond the growled the Kaiser. Ame t foul, base creatures they asta!” have they done, Wilhelm?” the Kaiserin, struggling to up the two stitches. vill scarcely credit it,” snarled Kaiser, “but they have so far for- t their honor and decency as to pry » the private correspondence of a her of our diplomatic corps!" Can it he! exclaimed the Kaiserin cdulously, “What was in the cor- pondence 7” Oh, something quite unimportant “Something to do typhus | the Kaiser. th our campaign of plantin li in neutral countries, I think. The Kaiserin shook her head sadly, ley are common folk, those Amer- s. Wilhelm,” she ple, upstarts, parvenus. They can- trusted. They have not nobility said. acter.” I should say iser declared. they hadn't!” the “They are absolutely ¢ in morals. Not content with 4 into diplomatic correspondence, cy set spies on some of our foreign DOING HIS BIT A TRAITOR, FL? WRITE THE WoRD TIMES THAT MILLION OUT FoR agents, and actually stole some papers that were locked in desks.” What a dastardly trick!” cried the Kaiserin. “I hope the papers weren't valuable!” They*didn’t amount to much,” said the Kaiser. “They contained a few worthless notes relative to the bomb- ing of hospitals by our air forces, and the murder by nen of neutral countries in case plans jerman agents of states they displayed hostility to our cause The Kaiserin’s lip curled contemptu- “ Think,” said she, “of the des- picable treachery of the creatures! othing is sacred to them! Oh, Wil- helm, can’t you teach them a lesson?” ously millionaire times over” PATRIOT= SANDS, LAVA, ON THOSE SURF OF HoT BOWANG fumed the Kaiser, I never You het T can!” “After this war is over I sh invite another American to dine on my The first thing I knew, Is on the yacht—never! they'd be carving their i table and They are abso- They'll have dining-room scratching matches on the wall. lutely not to be trusted. to get along without me after this, T I can't, and won't, and lack of can tell you that! endure such viciousness honor!” Mentally relieved by the high moral nd which they had taken, the royal couple rang for a dish of pretzels and prepared for a quiet evening Kenneth L. Ro: