Life, 1922-09-28 · page 8 of 36
Life — September 28, 1922 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1932 *Life* magazine page satirizes Prohibition's effects on American health and morality. The headline mocks a Federal Prohibition Officer's claim that diet regulation could cure dyspepsia (indigestion). The cartoon depicts a man complaining to his doctor about marital troubles, saying "The follies men will commit over women! It's terrible!" The doctor's response—"Why, what did you ever do?" "I married one"—is a misogynistic joke typical of the era. The satire's broader point appears to be that Prohibition hasn't improved American life as promised. Instead of addressing real social problems (like failed marriages), officials blame dietary issues. The cartoon suggests Prohibition has created worse problems than it solved, leaving citizens physically and morally compromised rather than improved.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ASHINGTON, July 4, 1932 (Special to Lire)—A marked improvement in the health and spirits of the American people generally is predicted, now law- abiding citizens are free at last to eat and drink what their Government orders, said Federal Prohibition Chief Anderson in his Independence Day address, delivered here at noon before the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. If there is one thing more than another that has held Americans back and kept them low in mind and discouraged, he de- clared, it is their digestions. With their digestions constantly impaired and losing time over night, is it any wonder, he asked, that they don’t get their rights and aren’t sufficiently looked up to? Indeed, to witness the rapid deterioration, moral and physical, of a stomach naturally sweet and sensitive to what is high- est and best in life, once its confi- “The follies men will commit over women! LIFE A Stomach Blow 20th Amendment Regulating Diet Death to Dyspepsia Says Prohibition Officer dence has been abused, is, as he feelingly pointed out, a sight to be- hold. Discouraged and sick, and constitutionally weak, and constantly looked down on, by degrees it suc- cumbs completely to the corroding influence of its lower and more gas- tric nature and ultimately sours on the world, becoming in the end a distinct menace to society and the happiness of all. For it is a truism, indorsed by the best thinkers, he maintained, that as long as men per- sist in eating what disagrees with them they will disagree with others, and peace and amity and all friendly offices, domestic or foreign, will re- main out of the reach of those who work for a living or are otherwise in straitened circumstances. How- ever, no present alarm need be felt for the country, for with the rigid enforcement of the diet measure a great and startling change in men’s dispositions may be expected. “Why, what did you ever do?” “IT married one.” The following items, gathered at random, will show the encouraging results of Prohibition activities in various parts of the country: After a running fight lasting some- thing over two hours, in which three Revenue Agents were mortally wounded and the driver of a truck instantly killed, a cargo of paté de foie gras was captured yesterday near Hokum, Vt.. shortly after passing the Canadian bor der. Thanks to a timely tip from the Dominion police and another as the truck turned over in a ditch, one more of these persistent smugglers of con- traband luxuries has been persuaded to take a long-earned vacation and a com- plete rest. A few more of the rascals killed, we venture to say, will soon dis courage the nefarious traffic. An explosion which gutted a house and upset the neighborhood of Mas- peth, L. I, Sunday night brought t light a custard pie foundry which had evidently been operating for some time under the innocent guise of a gambling house, its true purpose unsuspected by the authorities. Federal Agents wh: were quickly on the scene in search of It’s terrible!” comicbooks.com