Life, 1919-01-16 · page 2 of 34
Life — January 16, 1919 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces: a tobacco advertisement and unrelated poetry. **The Advertisement:** The left side features "A Letter From the Boy," a Velvet Joe tobacco ad. The poem presents a sentimental appeal—a soldier or immigrant abroad receives letters from home, finding them more meaningful than literature. The accompanying illustration shows figures reading correspondence. The ad then pivots to selling Velvet tobacco as the comfort of home. **The Right Side:** "A Thank Offering" is a poem about longing for home while stationed in a foreign land (Siberia is specifically mentioned). It contains no satire or political commentary—it's straightforward nostalgic verse about missing one's homeland and family pets. Neither element constitutes political satire typical of Life magazine's editorial cartoons from this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
by Life Publishing Company rect, New Yor, N.Y Entered a8 Second Ci Copyright in En Copyright 1919, Léggtts & Ayers Tobacco Co A Letter From the Boy All th’ poems ever written, All th’ stories known t’ fame All th’ sayin’s of philosophers An’ others of great name— Shucks! They don’t seem wuth th’ readin’ When f'm foreign lan’s afar Comes th’ long-awaited letter F’m th’ boy who's “over thar,” For the homefolks’ lovin’ eye- sight, In between the lines, kin see A deeper, sweeter meanin’ Than in any poetry. j atid | TOR Write to Velvet Jor, 4241 Fobom CO Co, Avenue, Se Lous, Mo, fr bi 1919 ‘Almanac. He will send it FREE. from thebest Kentucky Burley Tobacco aged in NATURES Way- 15° A Thank Offering HEN down the frozen roads | walk In some dirt-filled Siberian town, I cannot seem to grasp the talk OF white folk, yellow folk o¢ brown- OF Mongol, Slav or Japanese Of Manchu, Tartar, Hindu, Kurd They say to me the things they 5 And T can’t understand a word I oftentimes would tear my hai And gnash my teeth and beat my breast; For Home is far, and T despair When by the Unknown I'm op pressed But then T hunt a little pup— \ yellow pup of low degree Though foreign born, he che all his acts spell Home + His conversation, too, is clear He whacks his tail upon the floor And grins with joy when I draw near: I pat him, and he calls for n He sleeps, in his sleep he Of bears and rabbits, wolves and mice; And when he wakes he speaks of smells That strike his nose as ultra-nice, He understands the things I say Though reared beside the Amur’s flood And though the wolves of U \re represented in his blood; And in behalf of those who roam Siberia’s steppes and frozen hogs Ten thousand miles and more from How find: a white blackbird, a re chunk of ice and an unhappy anv subscriber to Lave, | HOW THE TOOTH FEELS AS TIE TIME APPROACHES FOR IT TO WE PULLED