Life, 1912-06-27 · page 44 of 45
Life — June 27, 1912 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward **product advertisement** from Life magazine (June 27, 1914). The page promotes Williams' Talc Powder by offering a promotional incentive: purchase a box of powder, mail in proof of purchase with ten 2-cent stamps, and receive a complimentary silver-plated vanity box (compact mirror). The advertisement employs period marketing strategies targeting women by emphasizing luxury, portability for "automobiling, calling, shopping," and the vanity box's practical features (hinged cover, mirror, powder puff). The illustration shows a fashionable woman of the era applying powder. The four fragrance options listed (Violet, Carnation, Rose, Karsi) reflect early 1900s perfume preferences. The company also manufactured shaving soap and cold cream, indicating diversified personal-care products. This represents typical early 20th-century consumer culture: manufacturers used premium gifts to drive product sales to middle-class women.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Note the patented hinged-cover boxes May we send you this dainty TPE whiteness of Williams’ Talc silver plated” Vanity “Box 7 Powder pleases the eye, How to get it its fineness delights the Simply buy a box of Williams' Tale Powder, any odor; send us the name touch > its softness re- of the dealer from whom you bought it, the date of purchase and ten : Z 2-cent stamps (20 cents), and we will send the Vanity Box to you at once. freshes the skin and its A woman who uses Williams’ Tale Powder likes to have it with her when f . Id fi . | automobiling, calling, shopping, traveling, etc. ‘To make this possible we ITaQrance holds rst place have had manufactured expressly for us a beautiful little Silver-plated : 2 : a: Vanity Box. This is not a flimsy, highly decorated advertising novelty, with a host of discrimin- but an article of real value—one that you would willingly pay a dollar or s more for at a jewcler's, at least a good many women have told us so. ating women. It has a Hinged-cover, Concentrating Mirror and a French Powder Puff. Your choice of four odors: Violet, Carnation, The little mirror, alone, makes the Vanity Box indispensable to every woman. _ Rose (flesh tint), Karsi, a rich Oriental perfume Address The J. B. Williams Company, 205 Maple Avenue, Glastonbury, Conn. Makers of Williams’ Famous Shaving Soap, Jersey Cream Toilet Soap, Matchless Cold Cream, Etc. comicbooks.com