Life, 1919-06-12 · page 19 of 46
Life — June 12, 1919 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of post-WWI satire: **"Cause for Rejoicing"** (top): A simple joke about Mrs. Talkalot appearing unusually happy—the punchline being she likely has bad news to share with someone, implying her happiness stems from others' misfortune. **"Corporal Carl"** (main story): A darker satirical portrait of a German soldier reluctant to return home after WWI. The narrative catalogs his military failures and moral compromises—his regiment routed repeatedly, his company's poor performance, faked combat photographs, two surrenders, and alleged torture of civilians. The piece concludes that Carl "was slowly growing to hate his country," suggesting the German military experience corrupted him morally. The postal-zone caption is a separate quip mocking the postal system's inefficiency. The brief note about Secretary Daniels and the Swiss navy appears to be unrelated contemporary political humor, likely referencing Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ik | i) a | AK ! CAUSE FOR REJOICING Polly: MRS. TALKALOT USUALLY HAS SUCIT A SOUR VISAGE, I AM SURPRISED TO SEE HER LOOKING SO HAP Dolly: Sue PROBABLY HAS BAD NEWS TO BREAK TO SOMEONE, Corporal Carl ORPORAL CARL didn’t want to return home, There were a lot of reasons why he didn’t, too. You see: His regiment had been routed three times. His company had been scored three times for failing to hola its place under fire. Everyone in his squad, except himself, had photographs showing them killing one or more of the enemy. You couldn't tell in the pictures that they were taken behind the lines and the “enemy” were prisoners whose guns lacked ammunition, He didn’t think he could get a job. He didn’t want a job if he could get one. He'd surrendered twice without a fight, and had been exchanged back. He'd shot at one of his officers three times, but missed, and suspicion had pointed his way. He'd grown sort of ashamed of the way he'd tortured a lot of people. He was slowly growing to hate his country. You see, Corporal Carl was a German. “YES; YOU SEF, ALL THE MAIL MUST TRAVEL AROU ERHAPS Secretary Daniels has in mind taking over CIRCLES BEFORE IT REACHES ITS DESTINATION.’ the Swiss navy. comicbooks.com