Life, 1918-09-05 · page 32 of 34
Life — September 5, 1918 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes humor with wartime content (likely WWI era, given references to "enemy aliens" and conservation). **Main Satirical Content:** The "Vous Family" piece is a French language pun—"Vous" is French for "you," so the article plays on homophones: Avez Vous ("Do you have"), Parlez Vous ("Do you speak"), Taisez Vous ("Be quiet"), etc. It's absurdist humor treating grammatical constructions as if they were an actual prominent French family, mocking both French naming conventions and perhaps wartime paranoia about spies. **Other Items:** The "Selfish Farmer" anecdote satirizes farmers' demands for higher wheat prices during wartime, using a joke about a farmer interrupting a duel—he only cares about his cows being safe, suggesting farmers prioritize profit over patriotism. The page is otherwise dominated by **period advertisements** (Cuticura Soap, Stromberg Carburetor, Egyptian Deities cigarettes) and brief jokes from other publications' humor columns. The content reflects American satirical magazine conventions of mixing advertising with short-form humor pieces.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CONTEMPO ARIE ALLEN'S FOOT-EASE for Soldiers and Sailors The Plattsb Camp Manual suggests the daily use of Foot= 356 URV ‘FOOLIS Vous Family Is Largest in France Have you met the Vous family? They are as famous in France as the Damn family is in the United States. There. are Monsieur and Madame Vous, whose first names are Avez and Parlez (better known as “ Polly") There are the mysterious Vous twins, Taisez Vous and Meficz Vous, who are performing a patriotic service by warn- ing the public against enemy aliens. And there is Savez Vous, who wants to know if you know; Voulez Vous, who wants to know if you will; Pouvez Vous, who wants to know if you are able, and Souvencz Vous, who wants to know if you rem er This is only a beginning, for the Vous family is one of th stand best known in France.—The Spiker ‘ase in the Shoes. Tactful Truth Manet: What do you think of my new dancing pumps? Sur: My dear, they're immense, —Reedy’ 's Mirror, EGYPTIAN DEITIES eeieaty Rople of culture and refinement invariably PREFER. Deities to any other cigarette, 25¢ Shnargyros okers Torl songiamnants Its Superiority pridefully said Brother Lunk, Dis yuh am de swell solid gold- plated watch dat I got fum a mail awdah sto’ for fou’ dollah: “Do it keep time, sa Quizz. “Do it? Dar isn’t two clocks in dis town, sah, dat kin keep up wid dis fine watch when it's right at itse’f!" —Kansas City Star. "asked Brother COR Nation (Sit eaigeaes sopehy "for any war-time emergency ate every possible pena wr Sroaberg wil back wth En your efoto ere the through ‘Write lr literature. State name, year of your car, mane to Gar.B, “New STROMBERG Does it! CARBURETOR BOGALY A “The New South's Young City of Destiny.” It's where the Great Southern Lumber Co. takes ia ‘and lays a mile of railway track daily Om: total} The Selfish Farmer Astin A senator, apropos of the farmers’ at- tempt to raise the price of wheat, said the other day: “The farmers are actuated by selfish motives in this business. It’s like the story of the duel. “Two gentlemen with their seconds re- tired to a farmer's meadow to fight a duel, The various preliminaries were arranged, and the duel was just about to begin when the gaunt figure of the farmer was scen racing across the grass toward the scene of conflict. “The farmer seemed in great distress of mind. ‘A humane chap,’ the principals and seconds thought; ‘he wants to pre vent bloodshed’; and they welcomed him kindly. xcuse me, gents,’ the farmer said, gulping with emotion, ‘but is this here goin’ to be a sword or a pistol duel?’ Sword duel,’ said a second. ‘ Why?" “*Weil, you sce,’ said the farmer, ‘if it was a pistol duel I'd want to take my cows in first.’""—HWashington Star, A ASONED Democrat who is an old subscriber to Lire, but who is wnfortunate enough to live in one of the remote Burleson zones, has found away to beat the Burleson system. He simply cuts down his regular contribu- tion to the Democratic campaign funds by an amount amply sufficient to cover the excess postage on all his peri- odicals. | comicbooks.com