Life — April 6, 1916 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Content Analysis This is a **perfume advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The page promotes Rigaud perfumes from Paris, featuring three distinct fragrance lines matched to female personality types: 1. **"The Sunny Disposition"** – *Lilas de Rigaud*, for sympathetic women 2. **"The Emotional Type"** – *Mary Garden*, the company's signature scent 3. **"The Graceful Brunette"** – *Carolina White*, described as "suave, seductive and withal mysterious" Each includes product photos, prices ($1.00–$4.00), and available formats (extract, face powder, toilet water, talcum). The advertisement uses early 20th-century marketing logic: linking perfume choice to female personality archetypes. A coupon offers free samples, a common sales tactic of the era. This reflects period assumptions about women's consumer choices and identity expression through fragrance.