Life, 1918-08-29 · page 3 of 34
Life — August 29, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts a bearded man straining to pull a rope extending toward a distant harbor city (labeled "Destination: Berlin"). The accompanying text celebrates the imminent "On-to-Berlin Number" of *Life* magazine, referencing the recent arrival of 300,000 American troops fighting on the Rheims-Soissons front during World War I's final offensive. The satire mocks American confidence that military victory and occupation of Berlin are inevitable—merely a matter of time and effort. The straining figure represents the collective American/Allied war effort being pulled toward German defeat. The tone is boastful, claiming *Life*'s prophetic role in predicting Berlin's fall and celebrating American military and financial superiority. This reflects August 1918's optimism before the November armistice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Destination: Berlin! Letters from the Rear Life Trenches, August, 1918. Fellows: The secret is out. We could not hope to keep it much longer. In the last number we made a feeble little announcement about the great number of Lire that is coming. That was only the first small shot. We know something more about itnow. The On-to- Berlin Number of Lire is now maturing. As soon as the news came that the first 300,000 American boys were fighting on the Rheims- Soissons salient, we knew that it was only a question of time when Berlin would become a suburb of Democracy. Not that we wish Special to take all the credit. But we have the ships, we have _ ee the men, and we have the money, and even though find One Del the entry into Berlin may have to wait until spring, we < simply must celebrate. So the On-to-Berlin Num- Z ber is coming on September 26th. Look for it. Modestly yours, Subscriptions to Lar may be sent to Amer: Life“ ican soldiers abroad at American rates of postage if addressed to them_as members of th ve American Expeditionary Forces. . ¢ price of annual subscriptions, postage cE, 17 7 included, for Canadian, British and other sol- ge EIFE.AT West ait Strest, NewYork: 158 diets of the Allied armies, is $6.04. 7 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) Open only to new subscribers; no sub: scriptions renewed at this rate.