Life, 1918-12-05 · page 11 of 76
Life — December 5, 1918 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire** — it is a **cigarette advertisement** for Omar cigarettes, disguised as editorial content under the "Christmas Life" section header. The ad features a man at a desk receiving gifts, with the tagline "Smoke Omar for Aroma." It promotes Omar's blend of Turkish and domestic tobaccos, claiming the cigarette's aromatic qualities make it an ideal gift. The repeated name "Omar Omar" and emphasis on "Aroma" are wordplay marketing devices. The accompanying product images and packaging are displayed prominently. This represents early 20th-century advertising practices where cigarette companies purchased prominent magazine placement to promote their products under the guise of lifestyle editorial content — a practice now heavily restricted due to health concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-CHRISTMAS LIFE-_ are ready to go — when the Red Cross seals are all in place—and there isn’t a thing to do but think—and you do it—and memory starts a movie of the men you know—and you must smoke to enjoy it more—and a cigarette’s aroma tastes the sweetest— Try Omar Aroma OmarOmar spells A roma The very name is redolent with aroma For Omar is the aromatic blend of 13 kinds of rich Turkish and 6 of ripe domes- tic tobaccos—which make the perfect Turkish blend. These aromatic tobaccos, mixed in a sterilizing cylinder of burnished copper through which white clouds of super- heated steam are forced, blend into one perfect Omar aroma; then rightly grad- uated cooling seals in the perfect aroma. And there Omar aroma is sure to stay until— some time when a cigarette is sure to taste the sweetest—you try Omar—perhaps justafter your &ifts are ready to go, or some other time when keen good tast can make a cig: Aroma makes a cigarette They've told you that for years ‘A IK ( YJmar for firo TRCORPORATED CIGARETTES Guaranteed by