Life, 1922-01-26 · page 11 of 34
Life — January 26, 1922 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The illustration depicts three women in what appears to be a modest interior, with a caption suggesting they're discussing a recent party. Below this is an article titled "The Cure for War" arguing that war is fundamentally a matter of clothing and uniforms. The author proposes that if all armies wore identical frock coats and silk hats instead of military dress, war would become impossible—soldiers couldn't identify enemies or be motivated to fight. The piece sarcastically suggests that abolishing distinctive military uniforms would abolish war itself, since uniforms inspire admiration and martial spirit. This is satire on the absurdity of jingoism and militarism—mocking how superficial trappings of war (uniforms, pageantry) drive nations toward conflict, while suggesting the remedy is equally absurd.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I seems an astonishing thing that arned and experienced diplomats and statesmen should have come to Wa-hington from all over the world to discover a permanent peace, without any of them having thought of the most powerful remedy of all—clothes. War, indeed, is almost entirely a mat- ter of clothes. Men rely upon clothes “How was the party last night?” “Tt was a good party while I lasted.” The Cure for War so much for this purpose, that in be- tween wars they dress for them, and keep dressed, in order to impress every- body with the necessity for war. Thus military uniforms are universally ad- mired, especially by the women (whose war approval is essential), and wherever men in uniforms appear they are sure to be followed and stared at by admir- ing crowds. Abolish uniforms and you abolish war. All standing armies should be imme- diately fitted out with frock coats and silk hats. Imagine two armies, thus clothed, approaching each other. You cannot assail a man who has on a frock coat and a silk hat. It would be too utterly ridiculous. comicbooks.com