Life, 1918-01-17 · page 4 of 40
Life — January 17, 1918 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **recruitment advertisement** rather than satire or political cartoon. The illustration shows a ghostly figure—likely representing the spirit of Civil War soldiers ("the boys of '61")—with arms outstretched in a blessing or exhortation gesture. The text explicitly compares past sacrifice: Civil War soldiers fought to "save the Union" in 1861, while current soldiers (1918) fight to "save the world" in World War I. The message appeals to patriotic continuity and emotional support for American soldiers abroad. It's designed to encourage home-front backing and subscriptions to *Life* magazine through an "Our Boys' Number" (January 31, 1918). This reflects typical American WWI-era propaganda emphasizing generational duty and national obligation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Our Boys Over half a century has passed since the Civil War. The boys of ’61 have mostly passed away, only a few honored veterans remaining. For fifty years we have had comparative peace. But now, in this year 1918, Our Boys are once more marching forward. In 1861 it was to save the Union. In 1918 it is to save the world, We are proud of Our Boys. They need our help, our sympathy, our cheer- fulness, our steady resolve to back them up. So long as they know the folks at home are standing by them, there is nothing which they cannot accomplish. To give them some of this confidence, the Our Boys’ Number of Lire will be issued on January 31, 1918. Special fer Enclosed find one Dol- \ jar (Canadian $2583 Foreig 91.26). "Send 1. for three month Open. only to new subscribers; no sub- scriptions renewed at this rate. 24 LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) Subscriptions to Lirz may be sert to American soldiers abroad at American rates of postage if, ad- | dressed to them as members of the American Expeditionary Forces. The price of annual subscriptions, Borage included, for Canadiaa, ritish and other soldiers in the Allied armies, is $6.04.