Life, 1918-12-19 · page 26 of 34
Life — December 19, 1918 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces from Life magazine, likely from the World War I era: **"Trotzky"** (top left): A mocking poem parodying Leon Trotsky's revolutionary promises to Bolsheviks—free farms, no work, no bosses. The satire emphasizes the unrealistic nature of communist ideology by exaggerating the "-sky" suffix and mocking Trotsky's authority, suggesting such promises were fantastical propaganda. **"A Costly Residence"** (middle): A brief joke reversing the nursery rhyme "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"—the father clarifies she wasn't actually poor, since she could afford a shoe as housing, mocking the original rhyme's absurdity. **"It Must Never Happen Again"** (right): Discusses safety matches as a wartime concern, arguing that Swedish-made matches were superior to imitations. The piece satirizes military procurement, suggesting poor-quality home-made matches were wasteful, while noting the irony that the "Prussian Incendiaries' Association" might have welcomed inferior matches.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Trot zky COME, all ye Bolsheviks, And wisdom hear from Comrade brother Trotzky ; I'l show you how to stop this row And put all troubles in one potsky with all rulers and their laws (Except, of course, your Sovereign Trotzky), can freeze to what they please Down So all And help themselves to all you've xotsky Then ev'ry man will get a farm And have a nice big house and lot- sky; There'll he comes, no bums when that time Nor work, nor bosses, nor whatnot- sky. My Soviets will do it all, And send the Bourgeois where hotsky ; For Anarchy, great Anarchy. ke the earth for Trotzky R.M. Di Is yet to ti A Costly Residence B' BBY: Papa, poor old woman tell me about that who lived in a shoe Para: My boy, she was not a poor old woman if she lived in a shoe. OVS “AWWW, MOTHER! THESE AIN'T T NS. TAKE THOSE TIN CANS OUT OF THE YARD AT ONCE!” THEYRE GERMAN HELMETS WE JUST CAPTURED GOIN’ OVER THE Tor.” WHY NOT SOCIAL TRAINING CAMPS? THE SOUP DRILL. It Must Never Happen Again of the things we must make certain never shi O Smokers must predominate when a poll is taken of th omething in their port happen again is the war-quality safety match Peace Congress. There ought to be folios about the match with a Swedish label that has bee: coming from Japan. One may wish to promote interna tional comity and still agree that that match has se ely The best t that it encouraged good physical trim; one had to be agik delibe endly can be said of it to catch a light from it Then there have been several home-made imitations of the Scandinavian original. “They carried safety to an ex treme. They would strike nowhere but on the box, atl The shells tha wasted on thos The ont comfort was in the thought that they were no help to the most of them wouldn't even strike there, the effort matches would have wound the war up sooner could have been made with Prussian Incendiaries’ Association.