Life, 1918-03-07 · page 29 of 40
Life — March 7, 1918 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains wartime satire from WWI era. The main editorial, "Prussian Brutality Is Killing War," argues that while brutality in warfare is ancient, other nations (French, British, Italians) have progressed toward more humane conduct—but Prussians have not. It uses the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin?" to sarcastically identify Prussia as the culprit, attributing their brutality to "frightfulness" (likely referencing Germany's deliberate terror tactics). The two cartoons provide lighter relief: 1. **"The Willowbys' Ward"** shows a domestic humor strip where a new ward (Molly) has apparently softened the household enough that Mrs. Willowby now tolerates a dog—previously forbidden. 2. **"The Palmist"** depicts a fortune teller predicting a client will sign a temperance pledge and keep it—sardonic humor about whether such resolutions stick. The page juxtaposes serious anti-German propaganda with domestic humor, typical of Life's satirical approach during WWI.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WILLOWBYS' WARD. BEFORE MOLLY'S ARRIVAL MRS. WILLOWBY WOULD NOT ALLOW A DOG IN THE HOUSE Prussian Brutality Is Killing War T is not that the Prussians invented brutality in war. Since very old times, until three or four hundred years it was the fashion and almost universal. But the other ions have made much better progress away from it than the Prussians have. French, British, Italians have grown more humane, Prussians show little or no improvement, and with modern facilities are able to beat old records of brutality. So they've spoiled war, merely by being so much nastier and hatefuller than other people. Who killed Cock Robin? “1,” said the Prussian; with my frightfulness War Times “CONT you think Bitkins was rude to excuse himself immediately after our dinner?” “ Possibly ; but he had an engagement to eat another one fifteen minutes later.” | rim hi THE PALMIST “AND I ALSO SFE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SIGN THE PLEDGE AND KFEP IT THIS TIME, TOO”