Judge, 1938-07 · page 2 of 53
Judge — July 1938 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is primarily an **insurance advertisement**, not editorial satire. The Union Central Life Insurance Company uses anxiety-based marketing to sell life insurance policies. The ad addresses readers directly ("Your Wife! Your Child!") to invoke fear about family vulnerability. It argues that life insurance provides essential financial protection against "seven vital needs" — funeral costs, living expenses, education, and other unforeseen hardships that could devastate dependents. The text emphasizes the company's "Family-needs Forecast" service, which supposedly helps customers visualize future financial gaps and distribute insurance accordingly. While the dramatic language ("Suddenly") and emotional appeals were common 1930s advertising tactics, this represents commercial persuasion rather than political satire. The page demonstrates how insurance companies marketed their products by emphasizing middle-class anxieties about family security during the Depression era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Suddenly insurance may become their sole defense .. . against SEVEN VITAL NEEDS F YOU WERE WEALTHY, your fam- ily's seven inescapable needs wouldn't have to concern you very greatly. You would leave so much life insurance that all their needs couldn't help being provided for. But if your means are limited, you must plan ahead with extra care... to make each dollar do all it possibly can... to extend your protection through the various phases of your family’s changing life. Unfortunately, few fathers are ex- pert enough in insurance matters to do this vital planning. That's why The Union Central Life has developed the unique new “Family-needs Fore- cast.” This remarkable service makes it possible for you to see clearly into the future. It shows you every one of the seven needs that may confront your family . . . and it shows you, al- most to a dollar, how well your pres- ent life insurance could take care of each of those needs. Now you can get maximum pro- tection value from every insurance dollar If you had this Forecast you could plainly see how to distribute the pro- ceeds of your insurance so that every dollar will do the most good for your family. You could plainly see whether there are any dangerous gaps remain- ing in your program, and understand how they might be filled most eco- nomically. There is not the slightest cost or obligation involved in your use of the Family-needs Forecast. There is near The UNION CENTRAL LIFE “A $300,000,000 INSTITUTION...FOUNDED IN 1867 you a Union Central Life representa- tive, capable and understanding, who will be glad to show you how to use it . . . how you yourself can check your life insurance against the actual needs it might suddenly have to meet. NEW YORK OFFICE C. B. Knight Agency, Inc., Walter E. Barton, President, 225 Broadway, New York, N.Y. PHILADELPHIA OFFICE H. Sheridan Baketel, Jr., Manager, 1400 S. Penn Square, Philadelphia, Penna. Insurance Company Copyright 1998 by The Usion Central Life Insurance Co. comicbooks.com