Life, 1919-03-20 · page 35 of 44
Life — March 20, 1919 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **primarily a product advertisement**, not a political cartoon. It appears in *Life* magazine (page 471) promoting Rubberset paint brushes. The page uses **military metaphors** to sell brushes. It compares ordinary brushes to weak armies ("pretty fair scrappers...yellow hearted cowards"), specifically referencing "William-Once-The-War-Lord" (likely Kaiser Wilhelm II, suggesting a post-WWI publication). Rubberset brushes, by contrast, are compared to "Devil Dogs" (U.S. Marines) and "Yankee Doughboys"—elite, indestructible soldiers. The image shows hands demonstrating brushes' durability and bristle-retention. **The satire/joke**: Rather than mocking a political figure, the ad mockingly presents ordinary brushes as cowardly soldiers who fail under pressure, while Rubberset brushes are heroic warriors immune to all conditions (water, heat, varnish, chemicals, age). It's patriotic advertising dressed in martial language, appealing to post-war American confidence and masculinity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
the construction that DEFIES DESTRUCTION Ordinary brushes ate much like the armies of William-Once- Lord—pretty fair scrappers so long as they can pick their victims, but yellow hearted cowards when the wrong foe comes along. Glue set brushes, for instance, fall easy prey to any color mix- tures containing water, or are vanquished just as quickly by various atmospheric extremes. A shellac set tool surrenders in a hurry at the attack of varnish. Pitch and cement sooner or later (but mostly “sooner”) throw up the sponge under certain conditions which must be coped with daily by the amateur or professional painter. But RUBBERSET brushes are practically invincible—regu- lar “Devil Dogs” or Yankee “Doughboys” on their fields of conflict in many lands and every clime. The hard vulcanized tubber in which every bristle is gripped everlastingly is imper- vious alike to the assaults of heat or cold, of flood or drought, of use or old age, or to the chemical action of the ingredients of any compounds in which brushes may properly be used or cleansed. And you do like your brush to hold its bristles! See that the inscription RUBBERSET is on every brush you buy. That brush is guaranteed to make good—or WE WILL! RUBBERSET COMPANY, (* “:2:°°) 56 Ferry St., Newark, N. J. RUBBERSET COMPANY, Limited 5 Sullivan St., Toronto, Ont. ‘‘Makers of a standard brush for every use to which a BRISTLE brush is put” comicbooks.com