Life — February 28, 1918 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine Title Contest Page This page announces a contest for readers to submit witty captions for the featured photograph. The image shows an early airplane (appears to be World War I era) with two figures aboard, flying low over soldiers on the ground below. The contest offers $800 in total prizes ($500 first prize) with special bonuses for soldiers and sailors—suggesting this was published during or shortly after WWI. The photograph itself appears designed to evoke humor through the contrast between the fragile, novelty aircraft and the ground troops beneath it. The accompanying poem "In the Place de Rivoli" references Jeanne d'Arc and continues the military/patriotic theme. The satire likely plays on the relatively new and still-remarkable nature of aviation technology during wartime.