Life, 1919-03-20 · page 9 of 44
Life — March 20, 1919 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces: 1. **"Harmony"** and **"As It Will Be"**: Mock bureaucratic examinations for citizenship, satirizing excessive government censorship and health regulations of the era. 2. **"Hey, Mister—You Dropped Something!"**: A cartoon showing two well-dressed gentlemen, one dropping what appears to be a document or object. The satire likely critiques carelessness among the elite or political hypocrisy. 3. **"The Lone Star"**: Satirizes the Anti-Saloon League's efforts to enforce Prohibition by redrawing the U.S. map with Hicksville as the nation's center—mocking the League's outsized influence on national policy. The dialogue between Willis and Gillis discusses postal service inefficiency. The overall theme reflects early-20th-century American anxieties about government overreach, Prohibition, and bureaucratic excess.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE? 445 Harmony V JHEN two hearts beat as one, there overbrims Ihe cup of joy. Alas! what discord has The gentle heart with beat a-tuned to hymns, Yoked with another heart that wants to jazz. As It Will Be 7OUNG man, have you been exam- ined by the Bureau of Censors?” Yes, sir.” And. sterilized by the Board of Health?” Yes, sir.” Has the X-ray revealed any traces of possible ancestral alcohol in your system?” Not a trace.” Are you nicotineless?" “One hundred per cent.’ “Can you repeat all the hymns in the Methodist, Presbyterian and Bap- tist hymn-books?” By heart.” Did you ever lose your temper and say ‘Good gracious’ or *‘ Fudge'?” ifice ot ~ Then, sir, come in and I will let ou hold my daughter's hand for fif- tcen minutes, in my presence, and if “IF HUMAN BEINGS ORIGINATED FROM MONKEYS, WHAT DID MONKEYS ORIGINATE FROM?" sou behave yourself in a seemly man- “ BOLSHEVIK” ner, to-morrow I will extend this period to twenty minutes.” The Lone Star HE Hicksville Community Choris- ters were going strong. The brasses crashed, the conductor's baton cleft the air, and the populace jumped to its feet, singing like one exalted: Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light “This will never do,” muttered the walking delegate of the Anti- League. Whereupon the League caused a new map of the United States to be issued, starring Hicksville as the hotbed of un-Americanism and rank sedition. Saloon ILLIS: What did you think of that fellow’s carrying the message to Garcia? atts: Don't blame him a bit. With our poor Post Office service, it was the “HEY, MISTER—YOU DROPPED SOMETHING!” only way he could get it to him, comicbooks.com