Life, 1922-08-24 · page 10 of 36
Life — August 24, 1922 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine presents "Anoder Var Book," a satirical piece about German militarism using deliberate phonetic German-English dialect. The text mocks German justifications for World War I, with a narrator claiming Germany "had" to fight for "Fatherland" and dismissing pacifist objections. The illustration depicts a German soldier (identifiable by uniform and spiked helmet) approaching a woman holding a child in war-torn surroundings. The caption reads: "The Girl: Hey! Cut out the racket—can't ye see I just got the kid asleep?" The satire targets German aggression by contrasting militaristic rhetoric with its human cost—disruption to civilians. The crude dialect emphasizes the "foreign" nature of German militarism to American readers, reflecting wartime anti-German sentiment and skepticism of German war justifications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE ANODER VAR BOOK Events Leading Up to der Var and Events Leading Down from der Var Explained This is the second instalment of the new volume by that eminent scrivener, William Hohenzollern ? entitled “My Four Years Out of Germany.” Early proofsheets from Mr. Hohenzollern’s private woodshed enable us to lead all competitors in presenting this volume to the world. The American translation is by Weber and Fields. Chapter V. HUST about der time ven tings vas breaking rotten, I invents der slogan to vin der var. I tells der vorld dot Chermany vants her place in der sun. Fine stuff, dot vas—her place in der sun. How was I to know dot Chermany vould fade? I tink dot iss a fair qvestion. Vell, anyway, Chermany vas faded. I did eferytings in my all-highest power to stall off der impendings, but der dummkopfs who should haf done der fighting didn’t mind der proclamations und encouragements I sent up daily to der front. No matter how much good cheer I notified my poys to haf, dey didn’t seem to appreciate it not at all. Not even der blueprints of der Berlin und Bagdad railroad didn’t inspiration ’um to fight for der right of vay. Vot could you do mit a gang like dot? I ask you man to man, und I supply der answer. You can’t do noddings! Und dot iss vot I done. Der more I spoke about Der Tag, der more it looked like it vas going to be der Tag Day for Chermany. Der more I encouraged ’um to fight for Gott, for country und for me, der more it didn’t arouse ’um. Maybe I should of mentioned myself first. Only der adv. about der place in der sun seemed to get any results at all. Und dose vas mostly inquiries. Chapter VI. Vell, gif me credit, poys. I started somedings mit dot slogan. But der advertising agents of der competition vent und out-sloganed me. Vun guy says, “England The Girl: Hey! Cut out the racket—can’t ye see I just got the kid to sleep? comicbooks.com ‘ie ee eT ee re ee he pe pi