Life, 1919-03-27 · page 18 of 44
Life — March 27, 1919 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two main satirical elements: **The "United States Goes Dry" Cartoon (January 16, 1920):** The central image shows a returning soldier viewing a sign announcing Prohibition's implementation. The caption reads "I SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME AND FOUGHT FOR LIBERTY!" This mocks the irony that American soldiers fought abroad for freedom, only to return to their country imposing a ban on alcohol—a loss of personal liberty they view as absurd. **"Signs We Never See":** This section lists humorous fake advertising slogans that would never appear in real life—such as "Everything but Drugs" (implying drugstores sold everything *including* drugs), and the smoking joke contrasting male pride with marital dynamics. **Context:** This 1920 piece satirizes Prohibition's unpopularity, particularly among working-class and military men, and uses dry humor about American consumerism and social hypocrisy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
498 business men knew how to write, would their views, on the whole, be more ac- ceptable than the views expressed by the professors? Because of the fact that the profes- sors do write, however, even if they may not know how, would it be wise to place some sort of restriction on them? And if there were appointed a national editing committee to pass on their productions, who could qualify? American readers are pretty well trained already to assimilate trash The doctors hold that coarse food of meagre nutritive value is necessary to give the digestive organs their power of resistance. This is a democracy, and needs to take all kinds of sub- stances into its system in order to function at all. When a Baltimore reporter publishes a lot of back- stairs gossip about the disputations of the Allies and lies gleefully in public, he does no particular harm, because the discounting privilege is working over- time among us, feeding as we are on comic supplements, picturesque news and Tribune editorials. If the professors were suppressed in their tendencies they would run into underground streams of thought which would make the going worse than it is now, with an antiseptic sun always on the job. Let 'em alone! ACTUAL APPEARANCE OF DOROTHY JONES and WQS <= UNITED STATES GOES DRY Personality "TIS common, seripsit, all must dic But one thing still more common i That to the lips of men, 1 wis, Comes oftenest: the letter 15 It forms a word and world—O, why Is nothing con:moner than this? Signs We Never See “CHE Worst Play in the World!” The Hold-Up Alleged Eating Place.” “All the Oldest and Cheapest Films.” “Everything but Drugs. “ Most Uncomfortable Be “A Poor Fit Guaranteed.” “YOU haven't got will-power enous! to stop smoking.” “T have; but if I quit, my wife would take the credit for it.” 2 aa