Life, 1915-10-28 · page 50 of 52
Life — October 28, 1915 — page 50: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes commercial ads with satirical humor typical of *Life* magazine's format. **Upper left**: A Hardman Tires advertisement featuring early automobiles and racing imagery, emphasizing durability ("guaranteed for 5,000 miles"). **Center left**: An ad for *The Theatre Magazine* satirizes dating rituals. It warns against boring courtship tactics—merely bringing violets and theater tickets shows lack of thought. The pitch suggests that gifting a *Theatre Magazine* subscription instead demonstrates intellectual sophistication and respect for her intelligence, positioning the magazine as cultured authority rather than "hodge podge of slush." **Right side**: Two unrelated items—a reproduction service for an old painting ("Retouching An Old Masterpiece") and a cartoon depicting two working-class boys discussing financial terminology. The cartoon's humor relies on crude street-dialect definition: a "preferred creditor" is someone you owe money to who can physically intimidate you. The page reflects early 20th-century attitudes about courtship, class, and advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
First in the preference of those who give first thought to quality— HARDMAN “SureGrip’ Tires Guaranteed for 5,000 miles Hardman Tire and Rubber Co. New York Office, 1904 Broadway Factory, Belleville, N. J. Agencies throughout the United States. Beware of boredom! Nothing is so deadly to the fighting chance. If you arrive week after week with the inevitable bunch of violets and pair of theatre tickets, you are endangering your fighting chance. But a little careful thought—a little careful selection— Ah! That works wonders. A. dollar—the price of a bunch of violets--or a sticky novel full of mussy sentiments—will give her the Theatre Mag- \ ttine for four months. The receipt of such a gift says to her, **You have the in- tellectuality to appreciate a clever, deep thinking mag- \ “azine like this—an authority on its subject—rather \ than a hodge podge of slush.’” And so she has. \ Why should anybody outside of a child go blind- fokled to see a play? \ In the Theatre Magazine—she can read and know what she wants to see and wky—in an intelligent way. Send coupon only. The bill will reach you December 1st. THE THEATRE lagazine 12 West 38th St., New York City Retouching An Old Masterpiece Reproduced in full color on plate-marked Bristol, size 12x 16 inches. Sent prepaid upon receipt of 25 cents. ° LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 17 W. 31st St, New York SAY, BILLY, WOT’S A PREFERRED CREDITOR?” “THAT'S A GUY YE OWE MONEY TO, WOT KIN LICK YE.” | comicbooks.com