Life, 1915-11-04 · page 48 of 56
Life — November 4, 1915 — page 48: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, with one notable satirical piece. **The Main Satire: "Those Democratic Railroads"** A short editorial cartoon mocks the claim that railroad shareholding is becoming "democratized." The piece notes that in 1904, twenty major railroad companies had ~154,000 shareholders; by 1914, this grew to ~377,000—leaving "ninety-nine and a half million people" still without shares. The satire's punch line: at this rate of "democratization," it will take until **year 8515 A.D.** for everyone to own railroad stock. **The Point:** This is sarcastic criticism of claims that railroads were becoming more publicly owned. In reality, ownership remained heavily concentrated among the wealthy, making the "democratic" framing absurd. The joke targets both railroad companies' PR and Progressive Era rhetoric about wealth distribution. **The Advertisements** include cigarette cases, Egyptian cigarettes, and a sexology book—typical 1910s consumer goods and self-help literature.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OST men like efficiency in M their personal belongings. That’s why so many are carrying Havone Cigarette Cases. It pleases a man to take his cig- arette from a case that can be pulled from the pocket and opened with one hand—to find his cigarettes— not tumbling about— but clean and straight, each initsowncompartment. The Forget-me-not of Gifts HAVoNe AVONE He likes to offer his friends a smoke from so inviting a cigarette case. Perhaps you may find here a hint for your Christmas List! Havone Cigarette Cases are made in Sterling Silver-plate, in Solid Sterling, 10K Gold and 14K Gold—Prices, $3.50 up. If your dealer hasn’t stocked up on the HAVONE, send us $3.50 and we will mail you one direct—either plain finished, or with monogram spot, or one of the all-over patterns. At any rate, send us your name on a post-card for one of our handsome catalogues. HAVONE CORPORATION Dept. C, Those Democratic Railroads AILROAD shares, they tell us, are much more widely held than ever before. In 1904 twenty of the leading companies had 153,610 shareholders, while the same companies in 1914, only ten years later, had 376,897 sharehold- ers, This, then, leaves only about nine- ty-nine and a half million people in this country who are not railroad share- holders, but, in view of the progress that is being made, this need not daunt us, We can soon make that up with-. out resorting to public ownership. That is to say, by about the year 8515 A. D., if we keep on democratizing our rail- roads at the present rate, we ought to SEXOLOGY hy Willtam H. Walling, A.M., B.D. i in a clear wholesome way, in one volume: Keowledse a Yous Man Should Have. Young Heshaed Sboold Have. Keawledse a Father Sboold Have. Keowledge a Father Should lmpart to His Sea. Niekcsl Keowindes » Hesiand Send Have. Py ‘AM in one veleme, Wastrated. $2.00 postpaid Write tor “Other People’s amt Table of Contents 21-23 Maiden Lane New York have a full measure of popular owner- ship without having public ownership. CORK TIP OR PLAIN END EGYPTIAN CIGARETTES |. ‘JUST LIKE BEING IN CAIRO’ THE NON-REFILLABLE BOTTLE Thoughts of a Thinker MARRIAGE is a sacred agreement between two people who don't know each other, to spend all the rest of their lives in doing a series of things at which neither of them has had the slightest previous experience, and all because they happen, in a world full of millions of people, to be lonesome. Why is it necessary to build so many fine churches, furnished in the most elaborate manner, merely for the ac- commodation of people whose sole ob- ject is an utter disregard for the present and a concern only for the life to come? Merely to learn the titles of all the books that are published would take up so much time as to prevent us from read- ing any one of them. That is the best safeguard for the old books, which have the advantage of cumulative advertising. | (on ~ PURITAN PUB. CO.. 737 PERRY BLDG, PHILA.. PA. comicbooks.com