Life, 1906-10-04 · page 31 of 44
Life — October 4, 1906 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The page shows a luxury brand targeting affluent consumers at leisure—depicted yachting at Marblehead, Massachusetts. The illustration features well-dressed figures (a woman in fashionable attire, a sailor, and a man in a suit) socializing on a yacht, establishing an association between Murad cigarettes and upper-class recreation and refinement. The ad's rhetoric emphasizes exclusivity: "men of cultivated tastes," "luxuries of life," and promises the cigarettes are "mild beyond criticism" and "rich beyond comparison." At "10 for 15c," the product positioned itself as premium. For modern readers: this represents early 20th-century cigarette marketing that openly associated smoking with sophistication, leisure, and social status—strategies now prohibited in advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SS gel = = Wherever men of: cultivated tastes—men who are used to the luxuries of life—come together for their moments or hours of relaxation, the superior qualities of the Murad are appreciated. Through their absolute uniformity and delicacy, their “‘full’” and superb flavor,. MURAD CIGARETTES have demonstrated beyond a doubt the success of a distinctive blend. Mild beyond criticism, rich beyond comparison, the Murad is the unvarying choice of the critic, and the favorite cigarette wherever known. The Murad: is a perfect product of expert skill and the rarest Turkish leaf. : 10 for 15c S. ANARGYROS, Manufacturer 111 Fifth Ave., New York City comicbooks.com