Life, 1918-05-02 · page 6 of 40
Life — May 2, 1918 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an **advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes the "Mimeograph" duplicating system by A.B. Dick Company (Chicago and New York). The ad uses the metaphor of "Twins" to describe the complementary products: special stencil paper and mimeograph ink. The circular image shows two office workers—a woman seated at a desk examining materials and a man standing beside her—representing a professional workplace setting. The copy emphasizes how these two supplies work together to "revolutionize" document duplication, enabling quick, cheap reproduction of drawings and typed work. The ad promises efficiency gains and cost savings for businesses. This reflects early-twentieth-century office technology marketing, targeting companies seeking modern reproduction methods before photocopiers existed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Twins—a serap of loyal paper and a tin of fighting ink! Dark blue, tissue-thin and parchment-tough, is the wonder-workin stencil. And by it is the fine art of Mimeographin3, revolutionized—when it is put into service with its natural affinity, Mimeograph ink. These twin supplies are made by us to work together. Upset that relationship, the work suffers, valuable time and materials are lost, and our responsibility for quality and output ceases, % % With them duplicating takes on a new significance. Not only do they quickly repro- duce work matching the neatest typewriting, but by their ability to easily and cheaply duplicate drawings of all kinds they open up new channels of usefulness. Let us show you what they can do to help you in your work. Booklet “W” explains. A. B. Dick ae Chicago—and New York.