Life, 1921-11-10 · page 23 of 34
Life — November 10, 1921 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page from Life (circa 1921) uses rhetorical questions and ethnic humor to critique post-WWI America. **"Questions That Ought to Be Answered"** employs bitter irony to mock government waste and corruption. It sarcastically asks: if war was proven useless (costing 25 million lives), why build more battleships? It skewers New York officials' bribery and stock trading, and highlights the disconnect between 50 weekly sermons and ongoing corruption. The Vice-President question may reference the recent 1920 election. These questions expose societal hypocrisy and government dysfunction. **"A Racial Monopoly"** presents an Irish ethnic stereotype joke (rendered in exaggerated dialect). Two Irishmen avoid a "Pedestrians Only" road, jokingly claiming it's exclusively for non-Irish people—playing on discrimination stereotypes of the era. **"Some People Are Born Lucky"** is a light anecdote about someone conveniently called away from boring speeches. The page concludes with a **Life Title Contest** offering $500-$200 prizes for captions describing an illustration showing an urban scene with children and tenement buildings—asking readers to suggest the best title.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Questions That Ought to Be Answered F it took four years, cost twenty-five million lives and two hundred billions in money to demonstrate that war is useless, how many more battleships should we launch within the next four years? The public officials of New York accept bribes, go about in motor cars provided out of the tax budget, and engage in stock market transactions in return for favors granted. If this has been going on for, say, three years, and during this period an average of fifty sermons have been preached every Sunday, how many more Sundays will there be before the Hearst papers reach a circulation of three million? If the war had continued for three months longer, would there now be only three millions of unemployec, instead of six millions as estimated? Who was elected Vice-President of the United States last November? If painters and carpenters and plumbers are now asking twelve dollars a day, how many more years of peace will it require before they demand sixteen? Some People Are Born Lucky Nortu: Did you enjoy the banquet? West: Very much. I wasn’t hungry anyway, and a telegram called me away just as the speeches started. Unvovsrepty the Alabama man who was killed by a bolt of lightning while harnessing a mule still blames the mule. A Racial Monopoly “Begorra, Moike, we can’t go down thot road.” “An’ whoy not, Pat?” “Sure, me bye, it says ‘For Pedestrians Only, an’ we both be Oirishmen.” What Is the Best Title for This Picture? LIFE’S Title Contest For the best title to the picture above Lire will award prizes as follows: First Prize, . $500.00 Second Prize, $300.00 Third Prize, $200.00 , I ‘HE contest will be governed by the following RULES By “best” is understood that title which most cleverly describes the situation shown in the picture. The contest is open to everybody. The contest is now open. It will close at noon on De- cember 5, 1921. All titles should be addressed to Li Contest Editor, 598 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y. Envelopes should contain nothing but the competing title with the name and address of the sender, plainly written, all on the same sheet. Titles will be judged by three members of Li Sditorial Staff, and their decision will be final. Titles may be original or may be a quotation from some well-known author. Contestants may send in more than one title. In case of ties the full amount of the prize will be given to each tying contestant. The final award will be announced as early as possible after the close of the contest. Of this due notice will be given. Checks will be sent simultaneously with the an- nouncement of the award. comicbooks.com