Life — April 1, 1915 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is **not a political cartoon or satire page**—it is a straightforward **advertisement** for El-Bart Dry Gin. The ad promotes a cocktail-making kit that includes four bottles of gin, French and Italian vermouth, a cocktail shaker with etched recipe guides, and four lead-blown cocktail glasses. The headline's phrase "Everything Except the Ice" is a literal description: the kit provides all cocktail ingredients and equipment except ice, which customers would add themselves. The ad emphasizes the gin's pedigree (triple-distilled using a 100-year-old formula from Camberwell Distillery in London) and promises quality cocktails if made fresh with the provided shaker. The price is $5.00, available east of Omaha, Nebraska, via prepaid express mail. This reflects early 20th-century **advertising in Life magazine** before Prohibition—no satire intended.