Life, 1916-05-11 · page 47 of 48
Life — May 11, 1916 — page 47: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire. It uses the ancient Greek Marathon legend to market Milo cigarettes to American men. The ad draws a parallel: just as Pheidippides ran 26 miles to announce victory at Marathon, "successful American men" demonstrate endurance and courage—and therefore naturally choose Milo cigarettes for their "clean-cut distinction." The illustration shows classical Greek athletes in various stages of running/exhaustion near a statue, establishing an aspirational connection between athletic vigor and cigarette smoking. **Key context for modern readers:** This reflects an era (pre-1960s) when cigarette advertising could make explicit health/vigor claims and directly target masculine identity. The "air-tight wrapper" detail attempts to suggest freshness and protection, typical of mid-century cigarette marketing before the Surgeon General's warnings.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
_ “LIFE? The Marathon Race 'HE sport which has been the high spot of endurance, wind and courage since the great run of Pheidippides, who bore the news of the battle of Marathon twenty-six miles to Athens, two thousand years ago. Endurance of mind and body characterizes successful American men. Themselves maturely developed, they choose MILO cigarettes for their clean-cut distinction and fundamental fragrance of flavor. From blender to smoker al- ways fresh and fragrant— protected for icular men by outer air-tight wrapper and inner foil. comicbooks.com