Life, 1919-07-10 · page 29 of 50
Life — July 10, 1919 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes **Bolshevik/anarchist violence** during the Red Scare era (likely 1919-1920s). The main cartoon, "A Bomb in Every Home," mocks revolutionary rhetoric by taking it literally. It presents a Bolshevik manifesto advocating placing bombs in homes—targeting tax collectors, noisy children, judges, lawmakers, and employers. The satire operates by presenting the extremist position without editorial comment, letting the absurdity speak for itself. The accompanying illustrations mock other contemporary urban hazards: auto accidents, financial speculation, being shot by gunmen, and suicide (Brooklyn Bridge jump). These position political violence alongside everyday American dangers. A small judge cartoon jokes about an "amusement tax" fine for hitting a German—referencing post-WWI anti-German sentiment. The attribution to "W.K. Porser" suggests this is satirizing actual anarchist propaganda. The overall message is clear: **Life magazine is mocking revolutionary bomb-throwing as dangerous and absurd**, presenting it as one catastrophe among many afflicting modern American society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
81 The first cost of the campaign will be heavy, to be sure. It will take all the money we can steal to enable the bomb-r akers to turn out enough of these delightful messengers to sweep from our path all who dispute our glorious principles of free bomb-ery But after having once, in a systematic way, accounted for all members of the so alled ruling classes—the educated, the intelligent, those of fine sensibili- ties—the cost of maintaining frightful- ness will be low A few well-placed bombs each week, an occasional con- certed effort to show our strength, will keep the world in trembling subjection to our new brotherhood of universal freedom, W. K. Porser. Others There's nothing to do in New York nowadays but yo to the theatre hard Croker, you can be run over by an auto at any hour of the day or night If you wish to dispose of your prop- erty, you can speculate in oil or dinner party You can become a hank official and be shot by a gunman You can spend your vacation in a -garden restaurant waiting You can pass a couple of days quite nicely, tryi to obtain possession o some simple article you have bought in a department store. You can jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. Judge: YOU Ake PINED ONE DOLLAK AND TEN CENTS FOR THRASHING A PRO-CERMAN “WHAT'S THE TEN CENTS POR?” “ AMUSEMENT TAX,” (Cf some of our popular illustrators illustrated a joke the way they doa story) A Bomb in Every Home _ tie? blasting out a road over which we can ride with pomp and glory ~ W* VE had too To do this we must have a bomb in \ GS much pussy- every loyal Bolshevist home — an as- \ 777 footing, too much — sortment of bombs, in fact —a small, | turning of the other cheek, spiteful one for the tax-collector; a } too much acknowledgment — big, murderous one for the too-noisy of the other man’s right to children in the street; a long, evil live his life as he sees fit looking one to blow to smithereens the From now on let's play a judge who dares to try a B master hand in the game. The lawmaker, the employer, the land- Let’s show that our way is lord, each and every one with whom the right way and the only — we have differences, shall be dispatched way. Let's bomb our w. through the world, leveling all obstruc- oIshevist with a quick-firing, tyiy-model nitro water, WATER EVERVWHLERE—AND NOTH= bomb. ING ELSE TO DRINK comichooks.co