Life, 1913-03-13 · page 29 of 44
Life — March 13, 1913 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Johnnie Walker whisky advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes a new patented bottle design featuring a valve mechanism. The humor is gentle and commercial rather than satirical. The illustration shows a jovial figure (the Johnnie Walker "squint" label mascot—the brand's long-standing mascot) pouring whisky from the innovative bottle into a glass. **Key selling points advertised:** - The bottle prevents tampering, spoilage, and contamination - No corkscrew, decanter, or special skill needed - Guarantees consistent quality and age (Red Label: 10+ years; Black Label: 12+ years) - No price increase The ad's ironic tone ("The Patent that protects the Public and the Purveyor") suggests gentle mockery of competitors' inferior packaging, implying their products suffer from adulteration or deterioration—a common concern in early 20th-century spirits commerce before modern quality controls. The "Born 1820—till going strong" tagline emphasizes the brand's longevity and reliability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Patent that protects the Public and the Purveyor While it might, with a great deal of trouble, be possible to get something back into this new “ Protective ” Bottle—such a possibility is so remote that this bottle affords ample protection to all those who want to feel sure of their whisky, and all those who want to see that such good judges are served to their satisfaction, YWAAGINEER2 R E D Label (Every drop over 10 years old) BLACK Label (Every drop over 12 years old) This wonderful ‘ Protective’ Bottle has joined forces with the “squint ” label to guarantee that when your whisky is poured out, every single drop is exactly the same as when it went into that Johnnie Walker “‘ RED Label” or “ BLACK Label ” Bottle. To safeguard these ages, the policy of the distillers for the future is the same as their policy of the past First and foremost to see that the margin of stocks over sales is always large enough to maintain the unique quality. The advantages of this new bottle are:— 1. No waste. 2. No spilling. 3. No corkscrew needed. 4. No “corked” liquor. 5. No decanter necessary. 6. No dirt or contamination possible. How to pour 7. No pieces of cork to capture. Tilt the bottle quickly, nearly upside 8. No substitution or adulteration possible. down. If the whisky does not flow 9. No skill or strength needed to open cr pour. ro. No contact of anything but porcelain and glass 11, NO INCREASE IN PRICE. (with the whisky. Born 1820. —_— till going strong. freely, give the bottle a slight shake to set the valve in motion. If you have any difficulty in obtaining GUARANTEED SA ME QUA LITY Johnnie Walker inthe new‘ Protective” TH R OUGHOUT THE WOR LD. bottle, send us a postal card with the name of your dealer, and we will see WILLIAMS & HUMBERT, Agents, 1158 Broadway, New York. that you are supplied. comicbooks.com