Life, 1919-10-16 · page 12 of 36
Life — October 16, 1919 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents post-WWI reflections and social commentary. The top poem "We" celebrates soldiers returning from France, emphasizing their newfound appreciation for life after experiencing death in combat. The lower cartoon satirizes college men's postwar prospects. It mocks how an "Ex-Professor" struggles to find his niche despite education, while his "Fiancée" complains the business world demands thousands in additional salary beyond his teaching pay. His "Roommate" notes General Pershing won the war—implying military figures, not educated civilians, gained prestige and advantage. The bottom illustration shows chaotic domestic life, captioned as demonstrating the difference between "calling upon an only daughter" versus "calling upon one of eight"—satirizing how men court differently based on family size.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
We ; =e W who have come back from the ; ~; EE Z : ( war, And stand upright and draw full breath, Seek boldly what life holds in store And eat its whole fruit, rind and core, Ere yet we enter through the door » keep our rendezvous with death We who have walked with death in France, When all the world with death was rife, Who came through all that devils’ dance, J When life was but a circumstance, \ LN AS. DSH 6; / y A sniper’s whim, a bullet's gle We have a rendezvous with life! With life that hurtles like a spark From stricken steel where anvils chime, That leaps the space from dark to dark, A blinding, blazing, flaming are, Conductor (who has been given a half-fare): wow o1b Axe You, LATTL As clean as fire, and frank and stark— en Gin . UR THIRTEEN, AND IF YOU WANTA KNOW HOW OLD MOTHER IS, SHE'LL White life that lives while there is BE FORTY IN NOVEMAER.” time. Hts Motner: General Pershing may When I received my diploma, I auto- have helped, but William really won matically acquired a head full of brains the war. at the same time. Being of a generous Tue Cor S I invite your nature, my mission in life will be to attention to a rem 'e phenomenon set other people right Deliver us from tactless kin, And drooling bores that mart forms,” And unctious folks that prate of sin, And theorists without a chin, And politicians out to win, And generals in uniforms. re- We have come back who broke the line The hard) Hun held by bomb and knife. All but the blind can read the sign; This time is ours by right divine, Who drank with death in blood-red wine— Wo have a rendezvous with life! Hervey Allen. What They Think of the College Man IS EX-PROFESSOR: The iad may possibly find his niche. Hts Emptover: So far, he’s only cost the business five thousand dollars in addition to his salary. His Roommate: I have to put up with him in order to use his dress suit. His Fiancée: William and General Pershing won the war. DEMONSTRATING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CALLING UPON AN ONLY DAUGHTER AND UPON ONE OF EIGHT comicbooks.comy