Life, 1919-04-24 · page 16 of 46
Life — April 24, 1919 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon**: A Western saloon scene where a male ticket seller offers seating choices to a woman—satirizing the novelty of women gaining public independence and agency, particularly regarding where they sit in public spaces. This reflects early 20th-century social changes around women's freedom. **Bottom Content**: A poem celebrating Irish-American soldier Patrick Murphy marching to war, with a German soldier ("Hun") dismissing American military activities as ridiculous. The piece mocks German contempt for American military tradition while celebrating Irish-American patriotic service. **Historical Context**: This appears WWI-era, when German forces dismissed American soldiers as inexperienced and America's involvement as absurd. The satire inverts this: Germany's dismissal becomes the joke. The Irish-American angle reflects how immigrant communities, particularly Irish-Americans, proved their American loyalty through military service. The dual-cartoon structure contrasts domestic social progress (women's autonomy) with patriotic military themes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Westerners Now TARE YOUR CHOICE OF SEATS, MISS 7 tA nw SOMEWHERE IN GERMANY Disgusted Hun (crossing baseball field): cu! pew stu.y UND NONSENSICAL DOINGS OF DOSE AMERIKANS! 1 VILL. NOT GIF IT ATTENTION, Hep! ILL. ye look at Patrick Murphy; see him marchin Hep!—with th’ left foot—Hep! With th’ rifle on his sh ler and ans on his feet Hep!—with ur left foot—Hep! Th’ cross upon the chist av him, th’ German-chasin’ 1 His bulgy British britches an’ his tunic all av in! Have ye seen a lad to beat him since this shootin Hep—He’s forninst us !—Hep! Will ye look at Patrick Murphy with his face of stern Hep !—with th’ left foot—Hep! Will ve see his shoulders swingin’ to th” music ay th’ | Hep !—with th’ left foot—Hep! Will ye hear th’ people cheerin’ him for what he’s bee done !— So they cheered for Julius Caesar an’ that lad, Napoleor So they cheered us when we marched away in cighteen-s one So they're cheerin’ Patrick Murphy, me own trae battlin® Hep!—He's me Boughel—Hep! Roland F, Andrex dt Ccomicbooks.com nial