Life, 1916-02-17 · page 38 of 52
Life — February 17, 1916 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertisements with satirical content typical of early 20th-century *Life* magazine. **The Main Advertisement** is for Vanadis Cigarettes, imported Egyptian cigarettes now manufactured in the U.S. by Liggett & Myers. The ornate layout emphasizes their exotic prestige and royal endorsements. **The Satirical Content** includes: 1. **"Song"** (attributed T.L.M.)—A poem mocking American isolationism, portraying the Midwest as self-satisfied and detached from global conflict (likely referencing World War I tensions). The speaker boasts of peace while remaining willfully ignorant of warfare elsewhere. 2. **"O.K. by Authority"**—A joke about film censorship. A movie titled "As God Made It" is immediately followed by a "Board of Censors" approval notice, satirizing the absurdity of censoring nature itself. 3. **"Placed Value of Horseflesh Low"**—A humorous anecdote about a grocer whose starving horse dies; the boy offers to pay from future wages, showing naive practicality. The Wilson Whiskey advertisement promotes "moderate habit" as a virtue—ironic given Prohibition-era tensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sete == °o fiadis Diaveyed b the Vmechald ofthe Kedive the lr rial Count of Avatrin Hangs Ves Regal Heghess Trove [lp of Seve Cohare Gotha the bnpesiad Court of Dipor.elcet the orkopal clabs are The regeneed ‘meses of India. Barmah and Cancda ®966 ( Tirose Americans who have smoked our Vafiadis (Vah-fee-ah-dis) Cigarettes abroad”may now obtain them in the Uniled Slates — because to Liggett & Myers Tobacco ry, who import them.we have also given the. sole right to manufacture them Jrom our Cairo formula. CTheodoro Vafiadis & Co. CALCUTTA: BOMBAY: LONDON: RANGOON CAIRO. Picka ts sizesShigher price ae ies Places, oslage paid on receipt 0 Liggett; Myers Tobacco Ca. Wir Fifth Avenue’ New York City. <a Song AM the spirit of the Middle West. My teeming cities bless the rising sun. ’ My golden cornfields wave Iuxuriant- ly in the afternoon breeze. I fear no man, Overhead, the clouds float upon the surface of the cerulean blue. Around me is no écho of distant warfare. I hear not the reverberation of can- non; I see not brother clutching brother; nor the sad wife, the home- less waif, the burning village. I am at peace. I spend my time in gathering the crops, in wrangling with my neighbor, in discussing all things. All things, save the oneness of mine own country. That I do not under- stand, I do not see the gray ships over the ocean’s horizon, nor the transports landing their countless hordes upon the coa! I hear not, I see not. I am sufficient unto myself. I am the Middle West, glorious, self- sustaining, dreaming my dream of eter- nal peace. I am the whole country. l is no trouble at all to pass an in- ternational law, but no sure way to enforce it has ever yet been found. O. K. by Authority At a picture-house the other day a pic- ture was shown entitled : “As God Made It.” Immediately following the projection of the title on the screen came the flash “Approved by the Board of Censors.” —Pall Malt Gazette. Placed Value of Horseflesh Low They were talking about valuable horse flesh the oth:r night when this story was recalled by Congressman Robert M. Swit- Look about you for the man who is happiest in his success. You will find him of moderate habit. zer of Canton. In an Ohio town there was a grocery- He is neither prudishly narrow nor is he excessive. man who kept the most emaciated look- ing horses in the whole state. One day the delivery boy drove one of the nags a bit too hard, and, finding a soft spot in the lower end of the township, the And it is the moderate man whom down and peacefully died. we most value as a customer for a arge commotion, of course, on the part : 3 af the'ovnet, wonderfully mild and mellow Whiskey “Tm awfully sorry, Mr. Brown,” the Si si F5 agitated boy said. “I didn’t go to do it.” —Wilson—Real Wilson—That’s All! ¢ you?” the agitate Mr. Brown yelped. “ Well, is that going The Whiskey for schich see invented the Non-Refiltable Bottle to pay me for the loss of the horse? ” the boy answered. “I will pay for the horse, all right. You can take him out of my next week's wages.” mixed drinks. —Philadelphia Telegraph, FREE CLUB RECIPES—Free booklet of famous club recipes for Address Wilson, 13 E. 31st St, N.Y. That's Alt