Life — September 6, 1917 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily an **advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Fatima Turkish Blend Cigarettes, manufactured by Cameron & Cameron Co. of Richmond, Virginia (successor to Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.). The ad uses orientalist imagery—silhouettes of minarets and Ottoman architecture—to evoke Turkey and lend exotic appeal to "the original Turkish blend." The tagline "A Sensible Cigarette" suggests marketing to consumers seeking a quality product. The cigarette package dominates the composition, displaying the Fatima brand name with a bearded Turkish figure and crescent moon symbol—visual markers of Turkish identity used to differentiate the product in early 20th-century American markets. This reflects historical tobacco advertising's reliance on ethnic/colonial imagery to create brand identity and prestige.