Life — May 23, 1918 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Life magazine cartoon titled "Until the Boys Come Back" depicts a bearded man in military/work attire and a woman in a helmet holding an axe, apparently engaged in labor or construction work. There appear to be other figures in the background. The cartoon likely comments on **women entering the workforce during wartime**—when men were deployed to fight, women took over traditionally male jobs. The phrase "until the boys come back" suggests this was framed as temporary, with the implication that women would return to domestic roles once soldiers returned. The satire may mock either the novelty of female workers or societal anxiety about gender roles shifting during wartime. Without a visible date or author attribution, the precise historical moment remains unclear, though this reflects themes from WWI or WWII era publications.