Life — July 26, 1917 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is primarily a **Bull Durham tobacco advertisement**, not political satire. The page shows a photograph of two U.S. Army officers (Captains W.A. Ladd and O.C. Wyman) at Plattsburg, New York, with soldiers marching in formation behind them. The ad exploits the military context by claiming Bull Durham's "muslin sack" allows soldiers to roll their own cigarettes conveniently. The phrase "Roll Their Own" is both a literal description of hand-rolling cigarettes and patriotic messaging linking the product to military service. The text includes a "suggestion to pipe smokers" to mix Bull Durham tobacco into their pipes. The bull logo and various product images are displayed throughout. This represents **wartime marketing** leveraging military imagery and patriotism to sell tobacco products to soldiers and the public.