Life, 1917-12-20 · page 24 of 40
Life — December 20, 1917 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who publicly criticized women's efforts to knit sweaters for naval servicemen during World War I, calling it wasteful. The Red Cross women disagreed, providing testimonies that the sweaters were essential for warmth. Life's satire works on two levels: First, the top cartoon shows women energetically "bringing in the Yule log"—a metaphor suggesting that criticizing their charitable work only strengthens their resolve to knit harder. Second, the "Degrees for Bankers" section mocks financial institutions with fake academic titles like "Accumulator of Boodle" and "Phooler of Depositors"—wordplay satirizing banker dishonesty and greed. The lower illustration ("The Diva's Farewell") appears unrelated to the main text, possibly a separate satirical piece about opera singers or performers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ Bringing in the Yule log” Is Warmth a Good Thing? R. JOSEPHUS DANIELS, our inspired Secretary of the Navy, differs with certain ladies who are en- din making sweaters for the men in the navy. He doesn’t exactly object to their doing it, and says that, of course, sweaters are used, but he thinks it a great waste of time, judging from his quoted utterances in the papers. The ladies of the Red Cross do not agree with Mr. Daniels. They have brought forth a mass of testimony, all tending to prove that the boys in the navy are getting a lot of warmth out of the sweaters made for them by the patriotic women of America. In fact, there is reason to believe, from the evi- dence, that the sweaters are indis- pensable. If Mr. Daniels really wants to get the women to stop making sweaters, doesn’t he know that is the wrong way to go about it? It only makes them knit harder. Degrees for Bankers A. ® Accumulator of Boodle. * A.R.A. Always Ready to Ab- scond. D.D. Discounter of Deposits. F.R.S. Fellow to whom Rhino Sticks. LL.D. Lover of Little Discounts. M.D. Money Demon. Ph.D. Phooler of Depositors. THE DIVA'S FAREWELL RAS. Receiver of Surplus Assets. comicbooks Gag