Life, 1915-01-21 · page 44 of 44
Life — January 21, 1915 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. The page uses the Egyptian Sphinx as a marketing device to suggest ancient pedigree and glamour for Palmolive Soap. The ad's central conceit: if the Sphinx could speak, it would reveal that Ancient Egyptian queens used palm and olive oils for beauty—therefore modern women should buy Palmolive products containing these same ingredients. The silhouetted figure gazing at the moon beside the Sphinx appears to be a romanticized woman, evoking exoticism and luxury. The copy emphasizes that ancient peoples had crude oils, but modern women enjoy their "convenience and luxury" in refined soap form. Multiple product variants (shampoo, cream) are advertised. **For modern readers**: This reflects early-20th-century advertising's heavy reliance on appeals to antiquity, femininity, and "natural" ingredients to market mass-produced toiletries—a strategy still common today, though the Egyptology framing now reads as dated cultural appropriation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
If the Sphinx could whisper the story of Ancient Egypt’s queens it would tell of the use of Palm and Olive Oils, so that modern women would appreciate even more the value of Palmolive Soap. They would realize why its creamy lather is the most effective cleanser. The peoples of ancient times that the Sphinx knew could obtain Palm and Olive Oils only in the crude, natural state. How they would have reveled in the convenience and luxury of their combination in Palmolive Soap Women who have made the acquaintance of Palmolive Soap are enthusiastic followers of the ° Palmolive doctrine of soap and water. Because Palmolive is made from these same Palm and Olive Oils—Nature’s greatest cleansing agents. Palmolive Shampoo Palmolive Cream A Palm and Olive Oil liquid soap reinforces the natural oil which keeps that thoroughly cleanses the hair and the skin smooth and unwrinkled, Threefold Sample Offer — scalp. It contains no injurious ingre- Apply a little after washing and before dients that will dry out the hair and — going to bed if you value a youthful make it brittle and dull. complexion. B. J. JOHNSON SOAP COMPANY, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin Canadian Factory: 155-157 George Street, Toronte, Ont. comichooks.@