Life — September 19, 1918 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page contains two distinct satirical pieces from Life magazine: **"Will It Come to This?"** depicts a wartime scene with civilians discussing a "new war tax." The theater manager character worries the government will tax "the speculators," reflecting anxiety about profiteering during wartime (likely WWI-era, given the reference to "this new war tax"). **"The Unknown"** is a longer story about a bookstore scene where customers repeatedly mispronounce "Czecho-Slovaks," mangling the name into absurd variations ("Zek-o Slo-vaks," "Ko-vax Sla-vex," etc.). This satirizes American unfamiliarity with newly-emerged Eastern European nations and the public's indifference to international affairs—poking fun at Americans' casual ignorance of important geopolitical changes.