Life, 1916-06-01 · page 43 of 44
Life — June 1, 1916 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **cigarette advertisement** for Schinasi Bros. Natural Egyptian Cigarettes, dressed up as educational content. The "satire" is subtle: the page frames a mass-market commercial product (15-cent cigarettes) as if it were a scholarly reproduction from ancient Egyptian papyri. The Egyptian hieroglyphic borders and the formal caption about "the wife of Ani, the scribe" create faux-archaeological legitimacy. The joke for readers would be the absurd juxtaposition—treating a cheap American cigarette brand with the gravitas of "the oldest book in the world." The advertisement claims Naturals were "the first and original Egyptian Cigarette in the United States," implying ancient authenticity when it's actually a modern product. The Egyptian imagery served marketing purposes: exotic appeal and pseudo-historical authority to sell cigarettes as a premium, quality product. Modern readers would recognize this as misleading advertising—using fake "educational" framing to promote tobacco.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
fe, Paes Egyptian Papyrus Series No. 2 Authentic reproduction from the oldest book in the world —_— StWwersa sa 5; The Original Egyptian +. Cigarette ‘A quarter of a century ago Egypt gave us Naturals—the first and orig- ina] Egyptian Cigarette in the United — States. The cigarette smokers of America were first doubtful—then curious — then willing to try—and finally, having tried, were captivated — were won over from their old’ preferences to— Naturals. : And Naturals on sheer quality alone Ee been winning over smokers ever since. The Largest Selling 15c. Cigarette RePropUCTION OF AN ANCIENT PAPYRUS SHOWING THE WIFE OF ANI, THE SCRIRE, BEFORE A TABLE OP OFFERINGS TO TILE GODS. comicbooks.com