Life, 1905-12-07 · page 58 of 60
Life — December 7, 1905 — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a luxury advertisement disguised as editorial content in *Life* magazine. The ornate coat-of-arms illustration serves as branding for the Waldorf-Astoria Segar Company's new "LA SAVOIE" brand of Havana cigars. The elaborate heraldic design with two figures holding flags conveys prestige and exclusivity. The text announces the first U.S. shipment of these premium Cuban cigars, arriving via S.S. "Morro Castle" in late November for December sales. The company emphasizes scarcity (only 40,000 available before Christmas) and supreme quality, with guarantees that these are "the most perfect cigars ever brought to America." Notably, customers can reserve cigars for storage in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's basement "Humidor Cigar Vaults" until delivery is needed—a luxury service reflecting the product's high-end market positioning. The ad targets wealthy patrons of the prestigious Manhattan hotel, leveraging the venue's reputation to sell premium imported goods.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
COPYRIGHTED AND REGISTERED BY THE WALDORF-ASTORIA SEGAR CO The first shipment of the LA SAVOIE brand of Havana cigars ever made to the States, was made by S.S. “Morro Castle’’ from Havana on November 18th, veceived and cleared by the New York Custom House November 25th, and will be opened for the inspection of our patrons on December 5th. These cigars have been in preparation for over a year, and every fine feature of the finest quality Havana cigars will be found in this bzand. Theze ave no small low-priced sizes. They aze the most pecfect cigars evec brought to America from Cuba. Their quality is absolutely guaranteed by us to be the most pezfect product in Havana Cigars that Cuba can produce, or has ever produced. As we cannot delivec more than 4o,000 of these LA SAVOIE cigars befoze Christmas, we make this announcement of the arrival of our first shipment to enable ouz regular patzons to make their reserva- tions in time to secure selection for colors and desired sizes. Oxdecs placed now will be held fo« Christmas delivery or stored in our Humidor Cigar Vaults in the sub-basement of the Waldozf-Astozia Hotel until delivecy is requiced. We have never had finer cigars for sale in any brand. Made exclusively for and sold only by the WALDORF-ASTORIA SEGAR COMPANY WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL ‘BASEMENT comicbooks.com