Life, 1919-02-27 · page 16 of 38
Life — February 27, 1919 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains wartime satire from World War I era (the text references soldiers overseas and President Wilson's gifts being shipped). **Top cartoon:** A bloated profiteer labeled with war industries sits atop suffering soldiers. The caption sarcastically suggests using the German navy to transport Wilson's gifts—mocking profiteers who accumulate wealth while soldiers lack basic transportation home. **"Awful Holocaust"** mockingly reports a flood in Greenwich Village (a bohemian neighborhood), trivializing actual war casualties by treating minor civilian mishaps as equivalent disasters. **Family dialogue:** A soldier's son confesses his "failure"—he received chocolate creams instead of requested gum drops. This absurdist humor satirizes melodramatic war literature while poking fun at home-front complaints that seem trivial compared to soldiers' actual suffering. **Bottom right:** A lady Eskimo celebrates gaining daylight hours, irrelevant to wartime concerns—more absurdist satire. The page's overall point: criticizing profiteering, home-front hypocrisy, and disconnect between civilian concerns and soldier sacrifices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
One Way Out of It ROM an Associated Press dispatch we learn that President Wilson's gifts have been so heavy that, in order to bring them across the water, it may be necessary to engage a transport The services of transports at the present time are largely in) demand Indeed, many thousands of our hoys are now waiting on the other side get home because transportation is not available. In the emergency, and in or- der to insure the passage of the gilts, why not use the German navy? AWFUL HOLOCAUST Disastrous Flood Sweeps Over Greenwich Village New York, Feb. ing a flood of at Croton water and a dozen cakes ¢ soap swept over Greenwich Village Not a villager survives to tell the tale <TRACT from a soldier lette peated by a censor who had sense of humor: . Somewhere in Franc: Deak Ma: I have saved a little money, and when I get back home I'm goin’ to buy me two mules, and name one of ‘em Corporal and the other one Sergeant; then I'm goin’ to lick hell out 0! both of ’em! T 2 HEN: I am the only shell factory that has no trouble getting on a peace basis The Profitecr: cwe THA iT weRTs Faturr (a shadow coming over his face): I knew it! I felt myself that 1 ought to have ge even if I am over I shall always regret it (voice trembles). No, father, it isn’t that. No doubt you tried to do your bit. Boy (beginning to cry): It isn’t my fault. I sure wanted to go. Davcuter: Quick, Jack! Don't keep us in this suspense. Let us face this together. Just when and how have we failed you? Jack: Sister, don’t! The memory of those bitter mo- ments when the truth was disclosed to me is still too pain- ful to think of, Fatuer: Speak, boy. We must bear this. How have we failed you? TIT PU x weeks ago, after what seemed weeks of weary waitin; I received a ten-pound box of chocolate creams. Tue Wnote Famity: Well, Well—? Lady Eskimo: Get uP, SHI, WE CAN SAVE A HUNDRED Jack: And I wrote for gum drops. AND NINETY HOURS OF DAYLIGHT TO-DAY! comicbooks.com