Life, 1917-01-25 · page 2 of 40
Life — January 25, 1917 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **tobacco advertisement** for Velvet pipe tobacco by Liggett & Myers, not political satire. The ad emphasizes that aging tobacco improves its quality—a key selling point for the product. The illustration shows two gentlemen in formal dress examining or discussing the tobacco product. The accompanying poem at top ("Velvet Joe") uses nostalgic language about friendship and time's passage to create emotional appeal. The advertisement claims Velvet uses "two years' natural aging of the choicest Kentucky Burley tobacco," positioning aging as the product's distinguishing feature. The price is listed as "10¢ Tins" or "One Pound Glass Humidors." This reflects early 20th-century advertising conventions: using aspirational masculine imagery and poetic language to market consumer goods.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Y.,a8 Second Class Mall Mater he Post Office Department, Canada, = It's gettin’ old, my easy chair—it shorely has seen better days— But, like some old time boyhood ch 's sorter learned to know my ways; No other chair seems half so soft—to hold such welcome arms widespread, An’ ase has hollowed out a place just whar a fellow rests his head. Old things, old friends are ever best—a pipe that's reached its seasoned prime— Tobacco that has mellowed oat beneath the golden towch of time, IT hope, Friend Reader, that you, too, have three such trusty pals somewhere— Age-mellowed Velvet, close to hand, a seasoned pipe, an easy chair. gatiet fo Nature-Ageing of Tobacco Should Need Little Recommendation. Experienced pipe smokers know that ageing alone can bring out a pipe tobacco’s last bit of taste, flavor, fragrance, mildness and mellowness. Smokers of less experience need only try Velvet to convince themselves of that fact. The very basis of Velvet’s manufacture is two years’ natural ageing of the choicest Kentucky Burley tobacco that experience can select or that money can buy. Open your first tin of Velvet today, and today will mark the realization of all the enjoyment your pipe can give, Liggett Myers Tobacco Ca Tins Se Metallined Bags ‘One Pound Glass Humidors ‘With New Ash Tray Top comicbooks.com