Life, 1917-12-06 · page 92 of 92
Life — December 6, 1917 — page 92: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Kodak advertisement**, not political satire. It depicts a father and daughter at Christmas, with the caption "Oh Dad—How Did You Know?" suggesting he's given her a camera. The ad's appeal is to **parental sentiment and manipulation**: the father knowingly gives his daughter a Kodak camera partly to receive photographs from her while she's away at boarding school. The text calls him "the wily old rascal," acknowledging this self-interested motive with gentle humor. The pitch to parents emphasizes **wholesome family bonding** through photography—from kindergarten onward—and positions Christmas as the ideal time to introduce children to picture-taking. A decorated Christmas tree is visible in the background. This reflects **1920s-era advertising strategy**: appealing to emotion and family values to sell consumer goods, while subtly acknowledging that even "fond parents" have selfish motivations. The boarding school detail suggests an affluent, upper-class audience.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Vol. 70, | opr “Ok Dad— Flow Did You Know?” Fond parents, who keep young through their children, have a way of knowing—and_be- sides, he was a bit selfish. He wanted her to have the Kodak; he knew that it and the pictures it would take would delight her and her boy and girl friends—and he knew, too, the wily old rascal, that she would send him loads of pictures from boarding school. Of course he knew. From the kindergarten days up, there’s wholesome fun for the children, and lasting joy for all the family in the Kodak and Brownie pictures the children make—and Christmas day, with its home pictures, is an excellent time to start. Kodak catalog free at your dealer's or by mail. EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, Rocuesrrr, N.Y., Vhe Kodak City comicbookg¥eom