Life, 1920-07-01 · page 34 of 56
Life — July 1, 1920 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces from post-WWI Life magazine: **"Smith"** (top): A humorous poem celebrating that 54,180 Smiths served in WWI. The satire mocks the ordinary commonness of the name—suggesting these thousands of identical "Smiths" could theoretically form entire regiments. The joke plays on the name's ubiquity, with a dig that even half might be named "John." **"Loyalty, thy name is Legion!"** (bottom left): A cartoon shows a woman standing over a seated man, captioned about boasting in France regarding American telephone service. The satire targets post-war American arrogance—soldiers returning home to brag about American superiority, which the woman's presence undercuts (likely implying infidelity or betrayal while abroad). **"The Overall Movement in Russia"** (right): Satirical commentary on Soviet Russia's arrest of aristocratic women for extravagance. The author mockingly suggests America should adopt similar communist penalties for consumer excess—ice cream sodas, theater tickets, expensive cars—reducing the country to a police state. This is cold-war-era satire mocking both Soviet authoritarianism and American consumerism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Smith Fifty-four thousand one hundred and eighty Smiths served Uncle Sam in the war. Ina statement just issued by the War Department it is announced that all the Smiths that served in the army, navy and marine corps would be able to recruit each of fifteen regiments to a strength of three thousand six hun- dred.—New York Evening Sun. RECT, O Fame, a monolith To these denominated “ Smith,” Who left their farms, their stools and benches To serve in muddy fields and trenches. Let none asperse the bright renown Of Johnson, Williams, Jones or Brown; But how the Tyrant must have trembled When fifty thousand Smiths assembled In arms to storm the Meuse-Argonne! (And maybe half were christened “ John.”) Well might the Teuton fly in panic As onward raged in strength titanic Like demi-gods of ancient myths Those fifteen regiments of Smiths! will Shakespeare hints, through pure good nature, That there's not much in nomenclature; But when I count the kin and kith Who bear the honored name of Smith, I hold, with Lincoln, God must love them Because He made so many of them. Arthur Guiterman, LOYAtty. thy name is Legion! “AND TO THINK I BOASTED IN FRANCE ABOUT THE AMERICAN TELEPHONE SERVICE!" “WE WERE ALWAYS THE REST OF FRIENDS UNTIL SHE SAID SHE WOULD TRUST ME WITH HER HUSBAND ON A DESERT ISLAND—THE CAT!" The Overall Movement in Russia CCORDING to a well authenticated report from reddest two ladies of high degree were recently ar- rested and convicted on a charge of need- less extravagance and ostentation, public- ly stripped of their finery, and sentenced to ten years’ hard labor. Which gives us one more cause to la- ment the fact that we do not have a Soviet form of gov- ernment in these unenlight- ened United States. If we were to make extravagance a criminal offense — regulat- ng matters so that a man would receive a thirty-day — sen- tence for con- suming an ice- cream soda, six months for buy- ing an orchestra seat from a the- atre-ticket specu- lator, Russia, ten years for wearing a camel’s-hair polo coat, and the electric chair for purchasing a seven- passenger, chintz-lined limousine—the en- tire country would have to be converted into a penitentiary and we should be forced to import a few million policemen from Russia to enforce the law. It would be a magnificent solution of the labor problem, and it would probably be a source of far less inconvenience than the present method of curbing extrava- gance Ly means of luxury taxes. RE. S. Not Handicapped “J'M going to be a bigger man than George Washington ever was,” an- nounced the young hopeful, looking up from his book. “I'm very glad to hear it, but what makes you think so?” inquired the proud but puzzled parent. “Why, this book says he couldn’t tell a lie, and I can, ‘cause I've tried it!” triumphantly proclaimed the little wretch. comicbookdee ] |