Life, 1919-01-23 · page 16 of 42
Life — January 23, 1919 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page reflects American attitudes immediately after World War I's armistice (November 1918). The main text is a conversational meditation on returning home from combat, celebrating peace while hinting at anxieties about the future. The three illustrations labeled "War Wives" contrast soldiers' romanticized expectations with reality: "The Clinging Vine He Left Behind" (dependent woman awaiting return) versus "The Oak Who Comes to Greet Him" (a woman who has become self-reliant during his absence). This satirizes the domestic adjustment challenges veterans faced. The large illustration shows soldiers celebrating, while the caption "It'll Hell to Be Rich!" suggests ironic commentary on wealth disparities. The text references contemporary concerns: Russian Bolshevism ("unless Russia turns ugly"), German instability, domestic radical agitation ("Bolsheviki right here"), and military suppression of political meetings—reflecting post-war American anxiety about communism and social unrest that would intensify in 1919-1920.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
124 Over Here OUL, we're home again. It’s all over—the fighting, 1 mean. Of course there are lots of things to settle, and the plenipotentiaries (that's the fattest word I know) will argue and squabble around the peace table, and people will burble about retribu- tion and indemnities and what's to be done with Wilhelm; but the war's over. Peace has come. Isn't that splendid, Soul? Isn't it magnificent? Men aren't killing each other any more, and the big guns and the little guns are silent. O Soul, aren't you glad that the load is lifted? Think of the sixteen months we spent in that inferno, and pr, God that we're both back home 4 together. We were lucky to get back from Over There so soon, Soul. If they hadn't decided that they needed instrue- tors in the States we might be with the gang to-night. I wonder what they're do- ing now, Soul, 1] wonder whether or not Bill got the fourteenth notch on his rifle He had thirteen, you remember, and he used to take the darnedest chances trying to get the fourteenth, so as to break the hoodoo. D'you remember the night he and we crawled under the ammunition truck and tried to fix the brake-rod, the big H. E. Janded right alongsid turned out to be a dud? The fellows are in the dugout right now, listening to the | fellows whistle in and burst—excuse me, Soul, I'd forgotten that peace was over the lands. that marvelous, Soul? Don't you rise up sing for very thankfulness at the thought? WAR WIVES THE CLINGING VINE HE LEFT BEHIND Isn't and No AND THE OAK WHO COMES To GREET HIM “orelit's HELL TO Be RicH!" more blood, no more hate, no more mud and cold and hunger—only peace and the blessings of peace—that is, un- less Russia turns ugly. D'you know, Soul, I think there'll be excitement in Russia yet. Germany, too—we may have to blow her up all over again if the Bolsheviki get the upper hand Speaking of Bolsheviki, we have them right here in our own country. I hear they tried to pull a meeting the other night, and the boys broke it up. Some one said they'd use machine-guns if hink of that, Soul—ma Spre ad around like water from a hose- ripp! Great little toys, machine-guns ! IME alone will prove whether it is to be a just peace or just peace.