Life, 1919-08-07 · page 29 of 44
Life — August 7, 1919 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early-20th-century Prohibition and temperance advocacy. **Top cartoon**: Two "Anti-Saloon" activists debate whether singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (referenced by "freedom ring from every mountain-side") promotes drinking. The joke: temperance zealots are so paranoid about alcohol that they see hidden pro-drinking messages in patriotic hymns. **Bottom section**: "How They Talk About Each Other" mocks class hypocrisy. The wealthy in drawing rooms gossip about servants' moral failings (laziness, drinking, inappropriate behavior). Meanwhile, kitchen staff level identical accusations at their employers. The satire exposes how each class judges the other by identical standards while ignoring their own identical flaws—suggesting moral criticism is really about class prejudice, not genuine ethics. The "Anti-Nursing Bottle League" image parodies organizations opposing infant bottle-feeding, linking various reform movements as absurdly restrictive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
First Anti-Salooner: WHAT'S THAT THEY'RE SINGING? Second Anti-Salooner: OW, SOMETHING OR OTHER ABOUT LETTING FREEDOM KING FROM EVERY MOUNTAIN-SIDE, “THM-M, DON'T SUPPOSE THERE'S ANY HARM IN LETTING 'EM SING ABOUT IT.” How They Talk About Each N the drawing-room they say That the cook is fat, lazy and ill-tem- URSIN And thinks of nothing but beaux ; BOTTLE That the chauileur speeds when he drives And drinks when he is not speeding— LEAGUE, Really a worthless fellow In the kitchen they say That the mistress is fat, lazy and ill-tem- pered, With absurd airs, independent; That the daughter is fli impertinent, lho! Ana thinks of nothing but beaux ; e’[ That the son speeds when he drives And drinks when he is not speeding— AN ASSOCIATION OFPOSED TO INFANT TIP- Really a worthless fellow THEREFORE— PLING, AND A NINETEENTH AMENDMENT Jeannette Phillips Gibbs. comicbooks.com