Life — June 13, 1918 — page 25: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top Cartoon - "Fiendish Suggestion":** This WWI-era cartoon depicts two men discussing military tanks. One suggests recruiting New York taxi drivers to operate them, implying taxi drivers are recklessly aggressive drivers. The joke plays on stereotypes of New York taxi drivers as dangerous and skilled at aggressive maneuvering—qualities that might translate to effective tank warfare. **Bottom Cartoon - "Too Much for the Censor" / "The Ouija-Board":** A young woman complains that her love letter says he loves her "only thirty-seven times." Older observers suggest the letter was censored—implying military censors removed more romantic declarations. The satire mocks wartime mail censorship, suggesting censors deleted so many expressions of love that the remaining count seems absurdly low. The ouija board reference unclear from context alone, though the séance-like gathering suggests supernatural divination. Both cartoons mock aspects of WWI: military inefficiency and invasive censorship of personal correspondence.