Life, 1918-10-03 · page 26 of 34
Life — October 3, 1918 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two distinct satirical pieces: **Top Cartoon:** A domestic humor sketch where a father, exhausted from work, tells his daughter that if her young suitor screams for help tonight, he won't respond because he's too tired. The joke plays on the father's traditional role as protective guardian—humorously abandoned due to fatigue. **"Our Own Private Constitution" (For Husbands Only):** A humorous manifesto where "tired business men of America" mock the era's constitutional reform movements by proposing their own "constitution" listing domestic grievances. Men demand relief from: replacing car tires wives have "usurped," wives' charge accounts, mandatory movies with unexpected guests, making beds, wearing "failure" socks, drinking homemade elderberry wine, and washing with homemade soap. **Bottom Cartoon:** A WWI soldier (Sammy) shows a captured German prisoner (Hun) a new bayonet, joking that he only wanted to test if it was long enough. The satire targets both domestic conflict (wives' independence/spending) and wartime masculinity, reflecting early 20th-century gender anxieties as women gained more autonomy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“4s THAT YOUNG MAN IN THERE THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN CALLING ON YOU SO MUCH LATELY?” “YS, FATHER.” “WELL, IF HE SCREAMS FOR HELP TO-NIGHT TELL HIM NOT TO EXPECT ME TO COME, I'M TOO TIRED.” Our Own Private Constitution (For Husbands Only) NOW that monarchies are fatting and new constitutions are coming in, we propose to gratify a wish long dor- mant with us, and have a constitution of our very own, to wit and by these presents: We, the tired business men of America, consisting of husbands, bachelors, baseball fans, movie fiends, poker players, golf players, etc, do hereby ordain and celebrate this constitution : Hereafter we shall refuse to replace tires on cars which, intended for our own exclusive use, our wives have usurped for themselves. All charge accounts shall be abolished, When unexpected company appears in the evening we shall not be coerced into going to the movies with them. We shall not make our own beds or place upon our tired feet the “failure” socks not good enough for the boys at the front. We shall not have to drink elderberry wine or wash with home-made soap. Sammy (to Hun prisoner): tuar’s Mu. RIGHT, FRITZ, ARED, I ONLY WANTED TO SEE IF OUR NEW BAYONET Y LONG ENOUGH. comicbooks.com