Life, 1916-04-27 · page 39 of 44
Life — April 27, 1916 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising with one editorial piece**—not political satire. The main content is a brief editorial defending **Fifth Avenue** as New York's only street worthy of pride. The writer argues the city is otherwise aesthetically poor ("ugliest metropolis in the world") and must preserve Fifth Avenue as its sole claim to elegance. The tone is gently mocking: New York should "cling with bulldog tenacity" to this one decent street until it can acquire more. The page is otherwise filled with period advertisements: piano rolls claiming to reproduce famous pianists' performances; rubber reducing garments; tire guarantees; and a detective serial. **No identifiable political figures or caricatures appear.** The Fifth Avenue piece reflects early-20th-century anxiety about American urban development and taste—a recurring theme in Life magazine's satirical commentary on American society's contradictions between ambition and actual achievement.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE That there has been discovered a way to record for the piano-player any great musical work so faithfully, so sensitively, that you recognize the interpretation, the singing the technique of the very artist who plays it? This is the unique achievement of RYtMop RECORD MUSIC ROLLS Just as you recognize Caruso’s voice on the phono- graph, so you can recognize Bauer, Godows! Cnieg! Brockway—all the celebrated pianists w hive recorded their art for you on the Rythmodik. Hear Rythmodiks at your music dealer's It is all tis needed to prove them better than you ever ned a music roll could be. Write us for cata "RICAN PIANO COMPANY New York Fifth Avenue Must Be Saved ORE power to the worthy efforts of the “Save New York Com- mittee” which has just been organized, and which is going to pay its first par- ticular attention to saving Fifth Ave- nue. In spite of its many shortcom- ings, Fifth Avenue is well worth saving. It is the only street that New York has any reason to be at all proud of. All the other streets are—but why dwell on an unpleasant subject? To look at them and listen to them and suffer from their dust on windy days is quite enough. To state the matter in its most posi- tive terms, New York simply can’t get along without Fifth Avenue at present. With Fifth Avenue still in good work- ing order, New York has still some claim to cleanliness, elegance and taste But with Fifth Avenue in the discard, New York would have a very difficult time in defending herself from the 0D YOU READ “CHRISTOPHER QUARLES?"” He is at it again, solving absorbing problems. The MASTER DETECTIVE By PERCY JAMES BREBNER, Acllection of appalling crimes and mysterious disappearances Sat keep you guessing—and you guess wrong every time. charge of being the ugliest metropolis in the world, Some day New York may perk up a bit, take greater pride in itself and acquire a few more streets that you wouldn’t be ashamed to exhibit to your country cousins, In that event, the loss or temporary disability of any particu- lar street would not necessarily cause us any worry. In the meantime, how- ever, we must cling with bulldog te- nacity to our sole boast-worthy posses- sion in the line of thoroughfares. food references. No canvassing. Staple hed fi Pepper Building, Philadelphia, Pa, You pay for the Quality - the pe Safety costs you nothing 5 ~~ REDUCE YOUR FLESH ‘Wear my famous Rubber Garments afew hours » day while walking or exercising and your superfluous Flesh will posi- tively disappea Dr. Jeanne Walter’s Famous ‘Sead Bast Redacer, Price $5.00 DIt. J ives tea Made from Dr Walter's lamows: Aw 1, New You reducing rater with cout back 999 TLE Ntee aaa eae Ore After Claims, Promises and Even Guarantees are forgotten, that quality which shows in actual service is the quality which holds the ever-growing hosts of users of Pennsylvania Oilproof VACUUM CUP TIRES Guaranteed—per warranty tag on each casing— for 6,000 miles; the extra mileage they average only strengthens your conviction that Vacuum Cups are perfect. Then, at no additional cost, you get the guaranteed skid-protection on slippery pavements, else tires re- turnable, after reasonable trial. Pennsylvania Rubber Company >. ¢€ Dealers exer: Blue and Ye! eke) 000 Jeannette, Pa. Direct factory branches and service agencies throughout the United States and Canada ywhere display the above ow Vacuum Cup Sign As makers of the famous bebin Pennsylvania Oilproof EBONY TREAD A quality casing with black, ribbed tread, at a moderate price. tacked oe 0 OE