Life, 1913-05-22 · page 41 of 48
Life — May 22, 1913 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two main elements: **Left column ("The Precise American"):** A satirical essay mocking American boastfulness about commercial honesty. The author uses heavy irony—claiming Americans "always mean exactly what they say when it talks business"—while listing absurd examples (eggs being "strictly fresh," coal shipments precise). The satire suggests Americans actually exaggerate and deceive in commerce, contradicting ambassador David Jayne Hill's recent praise of American directness. The implication: American salesmanship relies on bluffing and misrepresentation. **Right column:** An advertisement claiming the U.S. Census Bureau certified the Angelus as the "pioneer player-piano" (1805). This appears to be satirized by the "Precise American" essay—it's the sort of bombastic, dubious commercial claim the essay mocks. The ad's use of official government language to tout superiority is exactly the type of American exaggeration the left column ridicules. Together, they expose the gap between American ideals of honesty and actual commercial practice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
yash + Canoe) er Va- ou can 1 Lake INE upplies ‘he next through eauty— © into the : Kent oa in the /, what sed in ¢ rules mptly | first.” nion. \dvised The Precise American T is with swelling pride in our hearts and upon our checks the modest glow of conscious merit that we quote these words from a recent address of Mr. David Jayne Hill, formerly Amer- ican Ambassador to Germat He says that the average American c zen “goes straight to the point, speaks with emphasis, even with exaggeration. He, however, does mean exactly what he says when he talks business.” What greater virtue could a nation have than always to mean exactly what it says when it talks business? With- out that virtue, America could not pos- sibly have reached her present exalted position. When our average Ameri- can citizen says that an egg is strictly fresh, we can bank on it that the egg is strictly fresh. When we buy a ton of coal or a barrel of potatoes, we know we're getting a ton of coal or a barrel of potatoes. ‘When we are told that goods are all wool and a yard wide, we need have no further concern as to their quality and width. When we are told that the price of meat is high, owing to an early spring on Mt. Ararat, we know just why meat is high. When a department store ad- vertises that it is selling three-dollar The wisdom of age recom- mends to the action of youth the purity and the flavor of Old Overholt Rye “‘Same for 100 Years"’— the whiskey that has satis fied men and warmed their hearts for over a century—one of the unchanging things of life. Distilled and bottled in bond, A. Overholt & Co. Pittabureh, Pa. YOUR CHARACTER, Siti Re. Expert opinion on forgeri 5 geries and anonymot Por forms, address WILLIAM L SUIE PRE Poa ‘ A Asthor of in Woman's Home Companion, gust 1912, Co phologist”” in Good ‘House: Ri. December, 1012. “Your Character from iting,” in Scrap Book, November, 1908. Handwriting T DUTCH PIONEERS” AMSTERDAM The UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT through the Census Bureau, has proclaimed the ANGELUS The PIONEER PLAYER-PIANO “In 1805, Messrs, Wilcox & White of Meriden, Conn., began manufacturing an interior attachment, and in February. 18097, built their first * Angelus,’ a cabinet piano player. This in- strument. the invention of E. H. White, may be regarded as the Pioneer of the various similar allachments that have since been placed on the market.” From the Official Census Report. This leadership of the Angelus has been main- tained by the possession of exclusive features absolutely essential to the playing and enjoy- ment of real music, including the wonderful PHRASING LEVER (Patented) By the mere pressure of one finger on this mar- velous device you can play any piece of music ever written and impart to it every desired deli- cacy of shading. Thus the Angelus is not only the pioneer, but the simplest of all Player-pianos. Other exclusive Angelus features are the Melodant—which gives distinctiveness to the Melody; the Sustaining Pedal de- vice, the Graduated Accompaniment and the Melody Buttons, Knabe-Angelus * Emerson-Angelus Grande and Uprights Grands and Uprights Angelus-Piano—An upright built expressly for the Angelus In Canada—The Gourlay Angelus and Angelus Piano Any of these instruments can be played by hand in the usual manner THE WILCOX & WHITE CO. spp Business Eualshed 1877 MERIDEN, CONN. BS Regent Street. LONDON Agencies All Over the World pajamas for ninety-five cents, we know for a certainty that it has discovered how to make money by losing it. And so throughout the whole warp and woof of business life. And, what's more, we have come by this honestly and naturally. Our ster ling forefathers would no more have ‘This year wit 1¢ Inavguration of the thought of misrepresenting, say, a Peace Palace at The Hague horse or a nutmeg, than they would of taking usury, bribing a legislature or stealing from an Indian. An ap- pearance of honesty is the best policy. The format dedication of C: comicbooks.com