Life, 1910-09-01 · page 31 of 48
Life — September 1, 1910 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **primarily advertising**, not satire or political commentary. It's an Adler-Rochester Clothes company ad from Life magazine's Fall & Winter 1910-11 issue. The illustration shows a well-dressed man in formal attire (suit, bow tie, pocket square), representing the aspirational "best dressed" gentleman of the era. The ornate art nouveau borders with eagles frame this idealized figure. **The pitch**: For just a two-cent stamp (the cost of postage), readers could request a free style guide ("Edition J") that would teach them how to dress fashionably and purchase quality clothes at reasonable prices. The ad employs early advertising psychology—claiming appearance determines success and suggesting that poor grooming equals financial failure ("be a loser in purse and in appearance"). This reflects early 1900s consumer culture targeting middle-class men worried about social mobility through proper dress. The factory tour reference emphasizes manufacturing legitimacy, a common advertising tactic of the industrial era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
our Appearance Worth a Postal— ora two cent stamp? briefly and interesti , the reason why our clothes are worn by the best dressed men tos We've de: d fall. Let this book , the Adler - Roch y q r be your guide in which style is best for you Winter, 1910-11—shows what is possible in Learn from it how the fest first-grade clot e mad and how you may get them at ordinary good clothes’ pri Tt tak through the famous Adler-Rochester plant) Then you'll r Ze why you will be better dressed—and athe fi tailoring institution in the world. It tells without any greater outl if you demand ADLER-ROCHESTER-CLOTHES the merchant who handles our cloth The value of this book to you—or to any man who your inte at heart. Other esteems his appearance—is priceless. Ning other clothes — entirely in A7s own Yet it is yours for a simple request. -\sk for Edition J, and mail tod To delay be to forget. ‘To forget is id address of this merchant accompaniesthe to continue buying clothes hapl rd—to be a loser in Adler-Rochester Fall Style Book. purse and in appearance. Act now / L. ADLER, BROS. & CO., Rochester, N. Y. clothes. comicbooks.com