Life, 1910-12-01 · page 79 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 79: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon**—it's a commercial advertisement disguised as editorial content, a common practice in early 20th-century magazines. The page uses a photograph of U.S. Army sentries standing guard at a coastal fortress to advertise Woodbury's Facial Soap. The pitch is straightforward: soldiers earning $15/month spend 25 cents per cake on this soap to treat wind-chapped skin from standing exposed duty. The military context lends credibility—battleships allegedly carry 7,000-8,000 cakes annually. The "satire" (if any) is mild: the humorous juxtaposition of tough soldiers needing facial care products. The soap costs roughly equivalent to two days' wages, yet the ad claims "no one hesitates" after their first cake. This exemplifies early advertising's strategy of linking products to authority figures and real-world hardship to establish legitimacy and justify premium pricing to consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CHANGE OF SENTRY AT AN ATLANTIC COAST FORTRESS. At our forts along the coast, the soldiers use Wood - bury’s Facial Soap for relief after exposure to raw, biting winds. On $15 a month _ 25 cents a cake for soap Sentries of the U. S. Army, forced to stand the raw biting coast-winds, use Woodbury’s Facial Soap for relief after exposure. U. S. Battleships carry between 7,000 and 8,000 cakes of Woodbury’s a year. Prepared by the greatest skin specialist known, Woodbury's Facial Soap does more for your skin than anything you can use. For chapped skin To relieve roughened, chapped skin, bathe for some time (at least five minutes) twice a day in a plentiful lather of Woodbury’s and warm water. Then rinse thoroughly with cold water and apply Woodbury’s Facial Cream. After your skin is soft and smooth again, continue using Wood- bury’s, rinse in cold water and dry thoroughly. An unvarying observance of this will keep your skin in an active healthy con- dition in which it resists results from exposure. Woodbury’s Facial Soap costs 25c. a cake. No one hesitates it the price after their first cake. Woodbury’s Facial Soa, For sale by dealers everywhere Write for a sample cake For 4 cents we send a sample cake of Woodbury's Facial Soap. For 10 cents, samples of Woodbury’s Facial Soap, Woodbury’s Facial Cream and Woodbury’s Facial Powder. Write to-day. The Andrew Jergens Co., 2605 Spring Grove Ave., Cincinnati. We are making our niltionth