Life — October 31, 1918 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a cartoon titled "Davy Jones: 'W'! I'LL HAVE TO GET ANOTHER LOCKER'" from Life magazine (page 630). The image depicts a sailor or naval figure examining military aircraft (marked with U.S. insignia) that appear to have crashed or sunk underwater. The character appears to be Davy Jones, the mythological figure associated with the ocean and sailors lost at sea ("Davy Jones's Locker" being slang for the ocean floor/death). The cartoon is a wartime satire—likely from WWII era—commenting on military losses. The joke plays on the traditional phrase "Davy Jones's Locker" (where lost sailors end up) while showing destroyed American military equipment accumulating on the seafloor. The sailor's quip about needing "another locker" darkly jokes that losses are so extensive that even mythological storage space is overflowing, critiquing military waste or combat casualties.