Life, 1919-08-07 · page 30 of 44
Life — August 7, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Anarchist"** (large illustration): This darkly ironic piece satirizes post-WWI promises versus reality. The text lists all the optimistic expectations veterans and the public held after the war—prices would drop, profiteers would face justice, unions would win demands, rents would be fairly adjusted, and the Senate would reject the League of Nations. The implication is that *none of these happened*. Instead, prices tripled, profiteers got villas and yachts, and war-promised reforms failed to materialize. The figure labeled "The Anarchist" likely represents the disillusioned citizen—someone who sees the gap between promised reconstruction and actual post-war conditions. **"That Check"**: A restaurant bill satire showing how a simple order of lemonades and tax balloons into absurd line items (rent per table, laundry, depreciation, "tax for opportunity of being seen"). This mocks inflation and hidden costs in the post-war economy. **"In a Year or So"**: A light domestic joke about marital trust in poker games. The page's dominant tone is cynical about post-war economic and political betrayals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
That Check This 1s What It Ke & Lemonade Tax This 1s What It Mean 844 measures of jazz-time @ Current for ligh Head-waiter’s salary, and ventilation pro rata Rent per table per evening Laundry ..........+ Wear and tear, linen Tarnish and theft, silverware Depreciation of fixtures Tax for opportunity of heing seen Cover fees Uncover fees (view of Miss Lil lian Lovely’s hack) Fight lemonades @ .05 HERI United States Senate. didn’t get into it one good thin Henry Ford THE ANARCHIST HEN all the “wouldn't be satisfied with their veterans who old jobs” are back on their stools and behind their counters; when all the prices that were to “come crashing down” have tripled; when all the la- bor unions that were to be “shown a ve been granted their demands in full; when all the profi- teers who were to be “ put behind the bars” have their villas and yachts; thing or two” I when all the rents that were to be “ad- justed to a fair basis as soon as the war is over” have been raised; and as soon as the League of ions a ment which the Senate was to “ spurn” has been duly ratified, we shall begin to feel reconstructed. RS. CRAWFORD: Do you think it safe to go away and leave your husband in town all summer ? Mrs. Cransitaw: Why, yes. He knows his way around in a poker game. IN A YEAR OR SO CAUGHT WITH THE Goops comicbooks.com