Life, 1908-11-19 · page 21 of 28
Life — November 19, 1908 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or a cartoon**—it's a straightforward insurance advertisement from Life magazine's advertising section. The Prudential Insurance Company is promoting its "New Monthly Income Policy," a life insurance product designed to provide financial security for families. The ad targets husbands/fathers, emphasizing two key features: monthly income payments to a wife if the policyholder dies, or payments to himself in old age. The imagery shows a mother with a child and a man in a suit, visualizing the family protection the policy offers. The inset box provides a concrete example: for $167.35 yearly ($13.95/month), a 30-year-old receives $50 monthly death benefits to his family for 20 years. The appeal is emotional and practical—keeping families together and eliminating financial worry—while stressing affordability ("THE COST IS LOW"). This reflects early 20th-century concerns about breadwinner security and dependent protection before modern social safety nets existed. This is genuine advertising, not editorial commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
An Income for Your Wife in Payable to her Monthly for twenty years or Pi. for life, if you should be taken from her; or Enow- An Income payable to Yourself Monthly for Pi. twenty years or for life, to support you in your declining years, if you live—are the great features of the New Monthly Income Policy issued by The Prudential A Monthly Income coming with absolute COST OF * WHOLE LIFE PLAN” certainty will enable the mother to keep the At ge: SOr:for S18¢58 8 year, during your life (a saving family together and the children at school— of $13.95 a month) your Family Will Receive after your death The Income cannot be encumbered $50.00 Every month for 20 or depreciated. All worry about years, or $12,000 in all! safe investment is eliminated. At slightly higher cost, the THE COST IS LOW Write for Rates at your Age and Learn How You can Provide an Absolute, Guaranteed Income for Your Family, or for Yourself after 20 Years. State Plan Preferred. Address Dept. ‘0.’’ The Prudential Insurance Co. OF AMERICA Incorporated as Stock Company by the State of New Jersey. JOHN F. DRYDEN, President _Home Office, Newark, N. J. $63 comicbooks.com