Life, 1919-03-13 · page 4 of 42
Life — March 13, 1919 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a political cartoon titled "Bolshevik" showing rats arranged in a line, their tails forming the word "BOLSHEVIK." The text references last week's "Bone-Dry Number" (likely referring to Prohibition content) and announces next week's issue will have a Bolshevik cover and center-page cartoon. The satire equates Bolsheviks (Russian communists) with rats—a common dehumanizing cartoon trope of the era. This reflects post-1917 anti-communist sentiment in America, when Bolshevism was widely portrayed as a plague or infestation threatening society. The accompanying letter from a U.S. Army chaplain discusses distributing *Life* magazines to soldiers, normalizing the publication's satirical messaging to military audiences during this politically charged period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bolshevik Number of Life next week Last week’s Bone-Dry Number (which we were afraid might possibly be the last) has left us in feeble health and spirits. We hope to recover soon. This week we can only pipe upa little about next week’s Lire. It has a Bolshevik cover, a Bolshevik centre-page cartoon, and is really an excellent number, and ought to dosome good. We cannot say more than this now. We hope soon to be asking you in the old hearty way to become a regular subscriber. We hope to be able to tell you that life without Lire is lifeless. Meanwhile it is to Bolshevik. Dear Life: I had the privilege of distributing —through the courtesy of the Ani Library Association—coptes of your Back- Home number among the 2,131 sick and ® <ounded returned by the y. S. Leviathan from Brest February 3rd. God bless you! John M. Thomas, Transport Chaplain, U. S. Open. only to new subscribers; no sub scriptions renewed at this rate. Soldiers and sailors, overseas or in FE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. 82 camp, or at a hospital, all like LiFe. C Seer rer eee NOOR a IMS U7 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com