Life, 1916-03-30 · page 40 of 45
Life — March 30, 1916 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Content: President Wilson's Message on Advertising** The centerpiece is a formal letter from President Woodrow Wilson (dated October 11, 1918) endorsing advertising as patriotic during WWI. Wilson argues advertising educates the public, supports business, and serves national interests. The letter is framed with an eagle and Capitol building, presenting advertising as a civic duty aligned with American values. **Context**: This appears during WWI (note references to wartime scarcity: French vermouth, German cologne, censored goods). Wilson's endorsement legitimized advertising as essential to the war effort and economic stability—a significant propaganda moment linking commercial interests to patriotism. **Surrounding Content**: The page includes advertisements for weight-reduction garments and hearing aids, plus an essay on "Public Opinion" arguing citizens should trust their private interests over mass opinion claims. **Satire**: The juxtaposition—an earnest presidential endorsement of advertising sandwiched among dubious health product ads—may suggest irony about whose interests advertising truly serves, though this is subtle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
; REDUCE YOUR FLESH Where the War-Shoe Pinches Wear my famous Rubber Garmenta afew hours a day whi walkingor exercising and your superfluous Flesh posi- HE growing scarcity of French ver- tively dissppear. Dr. Jeanne Walter's mouth, German cologne and English : hothouse grapes is noticed with increas- ing concern in fastidious circles. Caviare keeps up well, and is still a good color, in spite of the dearth of dyes. Clothes and objects of art still come across, ‘and the supplies of Egyptian tobacco seem not to have run out yet. Bermuda pota- toes seem to come about as usual and un- rl opened by the censor. Bast Reducer, Price $5.00 DM. JEANNE C. WALTER ante ow Sosheareg odie Ge BIL T MORE acshon r eaereenes 953 rather es i, Yor 43rd and 44th Streets and Madison Avenue The center of social life at TEA TIME Ideally convenient for te a suburban dwellers a President Wilson's Message \ on Advertising Public Opinion UBLIC OPINION is one great big opinion made up of many little Private Opinions. It is a splendid thing to talk about because it is rare that anybody knows what the Public fi : - HOUSE Opinion on a given topic is. Indeed, ; = y re INGTON unless the subject is very simple and ¢ : well understood, such as the sum of two and two, the ability of fire to burn and of food to nourish, it is impossible to discover the real Public Opinion be- cause, by the time such a compilation is made in a country as big as ours, so many Private Opinions will have changed as to make the compilation valueless. It is much easier to guess at Public Opinion, and, as infinite varieties of guesses are always possible, the poor Public is always being accused of hold- ing opinions of which it is entirely guiltless. Accordingly, the safest plan for a wayfarer to follow is to look with profound suspicion upon every- thing that masquerades as Public Opin- ion and, in case of doubt between two or more such masqueraders, to choose the one that best forwards his own personal interests. gotover 33+ “DONT SHOUT” "BRO MORLEY te is, PHONI invisible, weight- le, inexpensive. "No weal = nor rubber. Sake young or The’ Morley Phone for the DEAF isto the ears what are to the eyes, Write For Free Booklet containing t ers allover the It describes covet the county It deci why the MORLEY PHONE, affords relief. Over a quarter of a million sold. THE MORLEY CO., Dept. 770, Perry Bids, Phila, comicbooks.com