Life, 1902-10-09 · page 19 of 22
Life — October 9, 1902 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Pabst beer advertisement** combined with a **contest promotion** from Life magazine (circa 1905, based on the January 18, 1903 reference). The ad uses a common early-1900s marketing strategy: readers must identify fifteen silhouetted female faces labeled with relationship categories ("The Girl He Flirts With," "His Sister's Chum," etc.). The implicit humor—unstated but clear to the era—plays on male anxiety about distinguishing between women in various romantic/social roles, a concern reflecting genteel society's rigid courtship conventions. For a $5 subscription to Life magazine, entrants could win $500 by correctly identifying the most faces. The advertisement promises readers get "$7 in value" regardless of winning, attempting to justify the subscription cost. The satirical point appears subtle: Pabst equates beer purity with social certainty, while the contest itself gently mocks men's presumed inability to tell women apart—a commentary on superficial social categorization and masculine confusion about female identity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Pabst beer IS always pure Because it is brewed from the Best Materials and Brewed Right. THEY ARE 5. Tho Girl He Flirts with 8. The, Girt lls Mother Wante q store Chu $. The Girl With Mvney 4 io Friend % FBS Gir} Who Iuted term 10. His Typewrite ; Fhe uirl the Loves : The Girl He Jilted 12, The Gil He Oolfe With YOU WILL RECEIVE $500.00 if you can tell which is which, now known only to the Editor of LIFE, who has marked each face. with ite proper number. and placed the picture in a sealed envelope ‘be open: fan was 1P05. om, Smpich date the contest closes, The perecn who identifies the greatest numbrr of the young women Will receive a prize of $000, Showid more than one identify an equal number, the prize wil be di WHAT WE DO “WHAT YOU MUST DO ‘We send you LIFE for a year. ‘Tear out this page and mark each face with the number in the list which ‘We give you the opportunity of getting the $500. delongs to her. Mail the ms to us WITH FIVE D LLARS. she price of @ year’s xe ent return exp SF Tad lated os" Pp oideon’s exauiaize sutecription to LIFE “Suvecriptions imay begin et any ti for framing, and eolis at 65. No pee recelved after January 18, 1003, will be considered. IN ANY EVENT you secure seren dollars in value for yur payment: ent of fire dollars, one de addition may secure the $200. The result will be published in LIFE of January 2 LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY ...... 49 “West Thirty-First Street, New York City comicbooks.com