Life, 1918-05-23 · page 15 of 40
Life — May 23, 1918 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** Depicts a futuristic military scene with a nervous officer requesting a soldier's daughter's hand in marriage, while massive armored tanks loom behind him. This appears to satirize the militarization of society and the awkwardness of pursuing personal relationships amid warfare. **"Hints for Trimmers":** Advice column mocking diplomatic evasiveness—how to avoid committing to clear positions on controversial matters by using vague language, citing multiple perspectives, and changing subjects. **"The Problem":** A math problem cartoon showing a man at a blackboard calculating military casualties across multiple nations (France, England, Italy, United States). The satire critiques the reduction of human suffering to abstract arithmetic, likely referencing World War I. The page overall mocks militarism, diplomatic dishonesty, and the dehumanizing nature of modern warfare.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A NERVOUS CORPORAL ASKS THE OLD MAN FOR THE HAND OF HIS DAUGHTER Hints for Trimmers HEN confronted with a dilemma where you are in dan- ger of displaying your ignorance or of expressing an opinion which might not be agreeable to one with whom you are courting favor, you will often find it useful to say that you believe in “doing the best thing under the cir- cumstances.” If pressed to tell what you consider the “best thing,” say you do not believe in “deciding such things offhand,” that there are “so many things to be taken into considera- tion,” and “so many angles from which the matter can be viewed,” that you would like “a little time to study it over,” If you feel you are not getting away with the above, you might add that it has always been your policy not to “jump to conclusions,” and that, no matter how plain a question seems to he, “there is always something to be said on both sides.” Then you can adroitly throw in something about “many men of many minds,” and “what's one man’s meat is another man’s poison,” and “ you never can tell.” And all the while be on the lookout for a good chance to change the subject. G ERMAN SUSPECT: Yes, chud T haff lived pra THE. PROBLEM ae . . “IF TWO THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN ARE LOST tically all my life in Chermany! Twenty years in Ber- yy Gainixc ONE ACKE, HOW MANY MEN WILL IT TAKE TO CONe lin and thirty years in Milwaukee! QUEK FRANCE, ENGLAND, ITALY AND THE UNITED STATES?” comicbooks.com