Life, 1918-12-12 · page 4 of 34
Life — December 12, 1918 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement** for the Mimeograph duplicating machine, made by A.B. Dick Company. The ad uses historical comparison as its selling point. The text contrasts ancient Egyptian efficiency with modern technology: Ramses II's scribes took four months to hand-copy a business letter on papyrus, while the Mimeograph produces "five thousand letters an hour." The illustrated figure appears to represent an ancient Egyptian scribe. The advertisement's satire is implicit—it mocks the slowness of pre-industrial communication by exaggerating the time ancient methods required. The "progress" theme celebrates how the Mimeograph represents modern advancement, positioning the machine as essential to contemporary business efficiency. This reflects early 20th-century optimism about technology's transformative power in commerce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
In France—in a Paris museum is a letter written more than four thousand years ago. It is a business letter—the most ancient one on earth. When old Rameses wanted to talk shop with his distant banker, on thick papyrus a hurried message was sent. With extra speed the scribes were able to finish the task in four months. Progress! Is it anywhere more startlingly illustrated than by the Mimeo- graph? Five thousand letters an hour it produces — letters that surpass old Egypt’s products in quality as they do in speed. The newest developments of the Mimeograph— speed duplicator of splendidly printed forms, blanks, let- ters, drawings, etc.— make it a more important factor in &. the world’s progress than ever before. Get new booklet “W” from A. B. Dick caren ial and New York.