Life, 1917-02-22 · page 3 of 42
Life — February 22, 1917 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising content**, not political satire. It promotes the "Mimeograph" (a early duplicating machine made by A.B. Dick Co., Chicago and New York). The advertisement demonstrates the mimeograph's convenience: users can draw or trace designs on an illuminated glass plate called a "mimeoscope," then place the stencil on the mimeograph to reproduce copies—"five thousand copies an hour." The photograph shows hands operating the device. The ad emphasizes the machine's appeal to businesses needing rapid document duplication without requiring separate typesetting or cutting. This reflects early 20th-century office technology marketing, targeting businesses seeking efficient reproduction solutions before photocopiers existed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Now! Draw it as you want it, and straightway mimeograph five thousand copies an hour. Simple! Two moves! (1) Make your stencil design— or tracin$—on this illuminated drawin}, lass, the mimeoscope. On the same stencil put typewriting or handwriting, as you please. (2) Put it on the mimeograph and reproduce in one operation, without type or cuts. This new addition to the mimeograph increases its serviceableness tremendously. You don't know what they can do for you— nor what excellent duplicating, of typewritin3, and drawin3, they do—until you have investigated—personally. Write A.B. Dick Co., Chicago—and New York—for booklet “W." NIMESERATH comicbooks.com