Life, 1927-06-30 · page 7 of 35
Life — June 30, 1927 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces from the WWI era: 1. **"The Old Army and Navy Game"**: A classroom scene mocking military unpreparedness. A teacher questions a student ("Willie") about the causes of U.S. independence, but Willie—distracted by a naval battle map—hasn't been paying attention. The satire critiques how military exercises overwhelmed civilian life and attention. 2. **"Seeing America First"**: A romantic road-trip monologue celebrating American tourism and landscapes, likely satirizing jingoistic "America First" sentiment of the period. 3. **"Fireworks de Luxe"**: A judge sentences a repeat offender to prison, quipping that this is "the last of that hooch from the government speakeasy." This mocks Prohibition enforcement and corruption—judges and officials allegedly profited from seized alcohol.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“- —— a ie Life The Old Army and Navy Game THE war game testing the preparedness of the land defense of the North Atlantic Coast had ended with tremendous credit to all concerned. Overpowering re- sources consisting of full-strength fleets of first- and second-line battleships, first- and second - line battle cruisers, cruisers and light cruisers, de- stroyers, submarine chasers, gunboats and light gunboats, tor- pedo boats, subma- tines, eagles and mine layers, aided by a re- serve of _ several squadrons of — air- planes, had com- pletely dispersed, beaten and annihi- lated an imaginary surprise attack cov- ering the landing of a hostile expedition- Teacher: CAN YOU TELL ME, — ary force intended to WILLIE, WHAT C march on New York AMERICAN WAR OF v bn Official mili- E > tary and naval ob- Willie: 1 MUST AVE BEEN servers were unan- SOME KIND OF OIL. imous in declaring that the mancuvres had proved, beyond all question, that an invading force could not possibly reach Long Island or the New England coast. And that night, in a little cove on the same shores, 75,000 gallons of bootleg whisky were landed, loaded on trucks and dispatched—as per established schedule. Hanging On IRST HOLLYWOOD INHABITANT: Are you an extra, too? Srconp Loarer: Well, I was, but I guess I’m just kind of a surplus now. Judge: MY MAN, YOU ARE A HABITUAL OFFENDER, AND I FIND IT MY DUTY TO SEND YOU UP FOR A THIRD TERM. Prisoner: A TiIRD TERM, YER HONOR? MAVEN’T you EVER HEARD OP THE WASHINGTONIAN PRECEDENT? Seeing America First « © e SHARP curve ahead. . .darn that chicken. ..a skin you love to touch. ..they satisfy. ..what a dilapi- dated old house.. it floats. ..400 rooms with bath... from contented cows ast soak and rinse rhat a wonder- ful view. ..detour...safety and interest guaranteed... blow some my way...best lubrication...slow down to hot dogs and pop...no left turn. ..come again Florid’s Nursery. ..57 varieties. ..there’s a fine farm - Pottsville was settled in. ..more power, quicker get- away...this is a fine stretch of road. ..detour...more mileage. . . picture alead—kodak as you go... . CCORDING to some people, the recent conflict was a war to end pre-war liquor. AAAS | ; Fireworks de Luxe “GREAT, ISN’T IT? THIS IS THE LAST OF THAT HOOCH FROM THE GOVERNMENT SPEAKEASY.”” comicbooks.com