Life, 1888-03-22 · page 16 of 16
Life — March 22, 1888 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **primarily an advertisement page** from Life magazine, not a political cartoon. The page features various late 19th-century consumer product ads including pianos, music boxes, champagne, whiskey, soap, and other goods. The most visually prominent content is a **Pears' Soap advertisement** showing a woman and child washing hands. The accompanying text presents a nursery rhyme: "This is the way we wash our hands / With PEARS' SOAP in the morning." This reflects **Victorian-era marketing strategy**: using domestic scenes and children to promote hygiene products, capitalizing on growing awareness of cleanliness and germ theory in the late 1800s. The advertisement normalizes soap use as routine daily practice for respectable families. The other ads emphasize quality and imported prestige (French dress, Swiss-made music boxes, French champagne), typical of how American merchants marketed luxury goods to middle-class consumers during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DEC CKE R MATCHLESS PIANOS! __ 33 Union Square, N. YY. Paillard’s MUSIC BOXES ARE THE BEST. They play selections from all the Standard and Light Operas and the most Popular Music of the Day. Send stamp for Descriptive Price List to M. J. PAILLARD & (0,, 680 Broadway, New New York City. DELBECK-+ EXTRA DRY and Provurable Everywhere. oroyMkIOAR OTAWINDOIT We offer the DELBECK CHAMPAGNES with . full conviction that there are 0 better wines imported. we EXCEPT NONE. —. LAMONTAGNE & Sons, 53, 55 and 57 Beaver Street. DRESS STAYS | FINISHED IN THREE STYLES. Thread, Cloth and Satin Covered. tur 5: GHENYYSALE] “This is “the way we wash our hands,” “Wash our hands” ‘Wash our hands” “This, is the way we wash our hands” “With PEARS’ SOAP in the morning? HEADQUARTERS FOR STRAIGHT WHISKIES, “OLD CROW” AND HERMITAGE SOUR MASH. Sold absolutely pure, unsweetened, uncolored. Various ages. None sold less than four years old. Reliable for medical use. We have taken every barrel of Rye Whisky sade s at the Old Crow Distillery since January 1872. gents for The Pleasant Valley Wine Co. sl lines of reliable Foreign Wines, Liquors, and H. B. KIRK & CO., 69 FULTON ST., BROADWAY ano 27TH ST. AND 9 WARREN STREET. ESTABLISHED 1853. 1 J icnng cen SAWDUST for cleansing je’ ent cen keeping gems always bright. Send 12 |. H. Johnston, 150 Bowery. Full instr Brown’s French Dressi The Original! Beware of Imitation! AWARDED HICHEST PRIZE A' ONLY PARIS SAP osiOlk: 1878. Highest Award New Orleans Exhibition comicbooks.com