Life, 1917-04-05 · page 18 of 70
Life — April 5, 1917 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a full-page **advertisement** for The Gorham Company, a silversmith manufacturer. The page appears in *Life* magazine (page 562) but contains commercial advertising rather than editorial content. The ad uses grandiose, quasi-philosophical language to market silverware, claiming that Gorham's name represents nearly a century of leadership in the silversmithing craft. It employs ornate Art Deco design with winged figures and decorative borders to convey luxury and prestige. The company advertised two New York locations: Fifth Avenue/36th Street and Maiden Lane. The text asserts that Gorham silverware—whether expensive or economical—is the industry standard sold by "leading jewelers everywhere." There is no satirical content here; this is straightforward luxury goods marketing using aspirational rhetoric.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
flaps comes a time in the history of an industry, as in the history of a people, when one name shines forth above others as the embodiment of all those qualities whereby leadership is es- tablished and sustained. In the silversmithing arts it is.now » an almost century-old tradition that the finest examples of the silversmithing craft, whether lavish in design or economical in cost, carry the name and insignia of- Gorham Sterling Silverware is sold by leading jewelers everywhere THE GORHAM CO. Silversmiths and Goldsmiths Fifth Avenue and 36th Street 17-19 Maiden Lane