Life, 1914-01-15 · page 40 of 40
Life — January 15, 1914 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Palmolive Soap advertisement**, not political satire. The page uses a pseudo-historical marketing hook: it claims ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (shown in the background image) describe beauty secrets using palm and olive oils—positioning the product as derived from 3,000-year-old wisdom. The "figure" is a woman in Egyptian costume and headdress, posed as if translating ancient texts, lending historical authority to the sales pitch. This was a common early 20th-century advertising tactic: invoking exotic antiquity to sell mundane products to consumers. The humor, if any, lies in the anachronistic claim that ancient Egyptians endorsed a modern commercial soap—treating a modern product as timeless knowledge. The advertisement emphasizes affordability (15 cents per cake) while associating it with luxury and ancient prestige. This reflects 1914 consumer marketing, not editorial commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
January 15, 1914 Read hieroglyphics down, and to the right. (1) As for her who desires beauty. (2) She is wont to anoint her limbs with 7 oil of palm and / of olives. (3) There cause to flourish these ments the skin, ) As for oil of palm / and oil of olives 7 there is not their like for revivif ving, making / sound and purifying the A Beauty Secret 3,000 ‘Years Old We get Palm Oil from Africa and Olive Oil from Spain. Sie scientific combination, a perfect blend, has developed their utmost ef : The daily use of these oils in the form of Palmolive surpasses any other method we This is a translation of the story of palm and olive oils written in the hicroglyphics of 3.000 years ago The characters and the correctly. sho day knowledge of the subject. / oint- presente The Egyptian maid of 3,000 years ago was famous for a perfect complexion—probably due to the use of olive oil in combination with oil of palm. In the Homeric World, as depicted in the Iliad, olive oil was known as a luxury of the wealthy—an exotic prod- uct, prized chiefly for its value at the toile We know that no other products of Nature have been discovered since to equal palm and olive oils in benefit to the skin. That's why we use them in Palmolive Soap. know for keeping the skin soft, smooth and beautiful. More than 2,000,000 homes are kept supplied with Palmolive because 2,000,000 women know what it does. And Palmolive is one luxury that iswt high priced. A cake costs but 15 cents. For a smooth. clear complexion. for per- fect purity. for delicate oriental perfume, for cool sweet refreshment, for Immedi- ate lather in hard or soft water, for the best cleanser, plus dainty cherm-for more than mere soap—there is only one cholce— Palmolive PALMOLIVE SHA NPOO. malin the hair lu and. he scalp. It rinses out easily an tractable. rice PALMOLIVE CREAM cleanses the pores of the skin and B. J. JOHNSON SOAP CO., Inc., Milwaukee, Wis. Canadian Factory : B. J. Johnson Soap Co., Inc., 155-157 George Strect, Toronto, Ont. (316) Olive Oil Shampoo cs y and is excclicnt for th leaves th qs a delightful touch after th so cents If you cannot get your locat roa ft be mailed prepaid on. rece use of Palmolive m of Shampoo of either will of price, Anna! Subscription Ten Cease Palmolive,