Life, 1919-05-08 · page 30 of 46
Life — May 8, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** A wife complains to her husband "George" that they're lost because he takes too long getting directions from a young man (visible in a car ahead). This is a domestic humor joke about male pride and reluctance to ask for directions—a timeless marital stereotype. **Middle Section:** A letter from a WWI pilot (Horace Moss Guilbert) praising French Salmsons aircraft over American Liberty planes, expressing gratitude for their use in combat. This reflects real wartime debates about equipment quality. **Bottom Cartoon ("The Last Man Home"):** An illustration showing what appears to be a ship or transport vessel, likely depicting soldiers returning home after WWI. **Prohibitionist Quote:** A rhetorical jab at Prohibition advocates, sarcastically questioning whether gaining democracy domestically is worth losing personal freedom—social commentary on the controversial 18th Amendment era. The page mixes WWI military content with domestic satire and prohibition-era social criticism typical of Life's format.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Wife: pEAR ME! WE SURFLY MUST BE ON THE WRONG ROAD, IT TAKES GEORGE SUCH A LONG TIME TO GET THE RIGHT DIRECTION FROM THAT YOUNG FELLOW! it appears on a plane ready to xo over the lines, pilot and observer in flying clothes, and rver’s double Lewis guns loaded. ‘The planes we have ave all becn Salmsons, still the last word in French airplane construction, and, we think—though it is heresy to say it—far preferable to the Liberty In closing, let_me express: sense of obligation to you fe without your permission, of what is really yours. It has been used on all our planes since we first began operating over the line and we thin! he most striking and significant of all squadron insig Best of all, it has at all times, throug its coming out of Lark, been a link with the country to which we are impatiently waiting to return With warm thanks, believe me, Always sincerely. yours, Horace Moss Guitnexr, ist Lieut, ALS. UL S.A Another War Secret Revealed “ AND while you were in Ireland, did you kiss the Blarney Stone?” Tue Rercexeo Hero: No, but I kissed several who had. ROHIBITIONISTS believe that Wi AT shall it profit a m: the Devil has not only a cloven gain democracy for hoof, but also a cloven breath world, and lose his own at home? THE LAST MAN HOME