Life, 1918-12-05 · page 58 of 76
Life — December 5, 1918 — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate pieces of wartime satire, likely from WWI: **"Winning the War"**: A sentimental story about a young girl watching a soldier's service flag, an older man, and a soldier—each wondering if they're being thought of. The narrative emphasizes emotional courage and hope sustaining the home front during war. **"Old Lady (in Natural History Museum)"**: The single-panel cartoon shows a woman viewing dinosaur skeletons, remarking that at this moment they strike her "as rather a waste of meat"—dark humor suggesting food rationing or scarcity during wartime. **"Spiders and Flies"**: An Aesop-style fable where one spider catches flies for the war effort while another claims to have "turned vegetarian" from patriotism. The moral warns against false patriotic justifications for selfish behavior. **"The Optimist"**: A brief joke about someone confidently predicting his watch will be wrong by 8:30—trivializing minor concerns during wartime. These pieces collectively mock civilian anxieties and false patriotism while celebrating genuine sacrifice and hope.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
eel eS Old Lady (in Natural History - BUT JUST AT THIS TIME IT STRIKES ME Winning the War WONDER w he will come hack.’ The lonely little girl with the sweet, wistful face paused in front of the modest cottage where there was a serv- ice flag displayed. Every time she passed that house—and she passed it often—she asked herself that question. Across the water was a young fel- low with a bright, clean, cheerful face, who passed his time in cleaning his rifle, in marching and counter marc ing, in digging in and creeping alor the ground, and in fighting for his country. And some time in every day, ad a moment to him- to sit down and think, he asked himself this questic when perhaps he “J wonder if she is thinking of me?” Somewhere at village was man. He was too old to go to war, but he was not too old to know the doubts and sorrows of a trusting heart. He as not tov old to know that courage based on hope and ch And every some time, when he met that sweet-faced girl, he would twist his Christmas : into a positive ray of light and perfect confidence, and he would say: Don't. worry, little girl Come back? Sure! Why, there ain’ shadow of a doubt about it And somewhere in that soldier boy's company was another man, who, when vee The Optimist: sue sat site'y we HERE BY EIGHT-THIRTY. sty WATCH MUST HE WONG, 2 OF COUKSE THEYRE VERY PRETTY, AND ALL THAT, AS RATHER A WASTE OF MEAT he saw him sitting and looking off somewhere, made a point of sitting down beside him and saying “Betcher vou got a girl! Betcher she’s the bese here is! Betcher she's got her mind on you, mornin’, noon and night! Smoke up!” Spiders and Flies A SPIDER spun his web from the pear tree, hoping to catch > fly His neighbor spun a web from the lilac bush, and two flies fell in, The net from the pear tree quivers and the spider ran out, A leaf ha caught in the mesh and was spinning in the breeze. He looked maliciously toward lilac bush, where his neighbor was « joying a:square’ meal, and called ont “All the flies are needed for the wa I've turned vegetarian,” Moral: Jf it’s necessity, make ghhors think it’s patriotism AVE. you ever done any publ speaking?” *I once proposed to a girl over the telephone in my home town.”