Life, 1921-01-13 · page 22 of 36
Life — January 13, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine presents satirical social commentary typical of the 1920s Prohibition era. The main cartoon depicts a **Prohibition Enforcement Agent** confronting someone about using water for alcohol—a reference to the absurdity of Prohibition enforcement and widespread illegal home brewing. The "Life Lines" section consists of brief satirical observations on American society: mocking the ineffectiveness of gun control ("teach the Young Idea how not to shoot"), critiquing Prohibition's contradictions, commenting on women entering Connecticut's legislature as overly radical ("Nuttymeg State"), and lamenting social decline. The illustration titled "The Navy Makes Men" shows a naval recruiter, likely satirizing military recruitment propaganda. Throughout, the humor relies on contemporary references—Trotsky, the ex-Kaiser, John Bull (Britain)—and assumes reader familiarity with ongoing debates about Prohibition, women's suffrage, and postwar anxiety about American values becoming too European or radical.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Lines ever been “a repentant na- H’s there tion?” We'll next. Public dinners are no longer referred to as banquets. have compulsory breakfast foods A cynical friend remarks that he refuses to believe that lobsters are becoming scarce. There's little left to swear off excepting taxes. Those early Cavaliers. Puritans begin to look like Prohibition Enforcement Agent HOLD ON, THEKE! “LIFE. Why not teach the Young Idea how not to shoot? Do New York gunmen come under the head of necessities or of luxuries in Europe? How can a European celebrity believe that we are really puritanical? The first greeting he gets is from the sirens in the harbor. Five women in the new Connecticut legis lature! “antis” call it the Nuttymeg State. Unreconciled Is the time coming when our only choice will lie between committing suicide and be ing murdered? A writer speaks of “ Trotzky’s reckless courage.” But he didn’t have the nerve to remain in Harlem. Wise is the man who can always discrim inate between his principles and his prej udices. Massachusetts has denounced high h but continues to root for high brows. It can’t be that the ex-Kaiser really wants to get what belongs to him: ARE YOU PREPARED {’ SW THAT THAT WATER AIN'T GOIN’ T’ BE USED FER ANY ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE? LEAN “THE NAVY MAKES Bankers and brokers have decided that hereafter all their messengers must be over six years of age and under ninety Our country’s problem: How to make catching srope has anit matching minds and re sumed matching royalties The possessor of dry wit doesn’t lack for dinner invitations this season Will John Bull ever be able to hit it of with his Erin sister? trouble Have you any brewing in home? The light that lies in woman's eyes not ulways lies. Whatever from him, the average policeman can hold his tongue How seldom it Properganda ! Tobacco next? Are we ¢ under none but good-bye laws? Luther Burbank may yet be able to make a wallflower look like 1 perfect peach. The crying need of the cities is n blue laws but more blue-coats. It is rumored that a bill is to b duced in Congress to banish all our parlor Bolshevists to the Island of Yap. The law-abiding American is necessarily in his declining years Edzeard 5. else gets away deserves to be. spelled intro- Van Zile, comicbooks.com