Life, 1919-03-27 · page 42 of 44
Life — March 27, 1919 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, not political satire. The dominant content includes: 1. **Waterman's Fountain Pen ad** (top): Uses the phrase "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" to reference World War I, suggesting written communication will settle the conflict that military force cannot. 2. **"The Ultimate Consumer" essay** (center): A sardonic piece describing an ordinary person as the center of the universe—ironically celebrating how farmers, industrialists, and corporations all exist to serve this supposedly humble individual. The satire lies in the disconnect: the consumer feels powerless despite theoretically controlling markets through demand. 3. **Supporting advertisements**: Evans's Depilatory, Whiting-Adams Brushes, and Diamonds on Credit fill the remaining space. The page reflects early 20th-century consumer culture commentary, mocking both consumer self-importance and the economic reality where ordinary people remain dependent on and exploited by larger forces they nominally control.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword” Cook willows far thehan ome dealFountain Pen 3 TYPES heguisr | SOLD BY BEST DEALERS | *2,50 Self- Filling LE.Waterman Company UP NEW YoRK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO to0 BROAOWAY 24 SCHOOL ST. US SO, CLARK ST, 17 STOCKTON ST. The Ultimate Consumer | AM the man at the center of the uni- verse. It is for me that the furrows are run in the fields and the ships’ wakes trailed across the sea. For me the mills of industry roar and the wheels of trans portation turn. The farmer grows grain and feeds live stock that I may be fed; he raises cotton and produces wool that [ may be clothed The mills of Minneapolis, the pack plants of Chic: the looms of New E Evans’s Depilatory land, the spindles of the New South exist solely to prepare these things for my us« removes hair easily Highways and railroads, motor trucks and Here is an easy way to remove unwanted lBeoaial Wea are. Getulanleste: beng the hair from the arms and unde Get Evans's Depilatory Outfit—everything you need is included. Men seck in the most distant corners Mix a little powder with of the world for things that will please water, apply, wait about a_minute; ‘then wash off the powder and hair furs of Polar lands are brought for my approval. Explorers and engineers are to me. me. The spices of the tropics and the all the time preparing new paths along which th an come to me. Tf Tap prove the thing a m gs me, he be comes rich; if I refuse poor. My word is law to millions of mankind. My whims can make them or break them Butcher an cr and candlestick-maker Armour and Henry Ford, Standard Oil and American Steel are absolutely de pendent upon me. Lam at the center of the universe am the most important person in. th world, I do not look it, and I do often feel it, however and candlestick-m: mobile manufacturer, oil man—they all of them bully and flout and rob me, even while they bid to serve me They cannot live without me, b I cannot live without them. I forge power, and they rémember theirs. EXCERPT FROM A POPULAR NOVEL “The sight that met our hero's eyes was enough to discourage a stronger man” fve-six Four “WHERE DO YOU GET Ti10S: MOTHERS ? Scripture for the Movies ‘SG IER the people tovether, me and women, and chillrcn."—De teronomy, 31 “Sit in darkness.”— The shadows ched out.”—Jerem * The sound of the grindit asant pictures ne to weep and a tir “Clap your hands, all ye BRUSH EFFICIENCY, << WHITING-ADAM BRUSHES PAINTING EFFICIENCY) ©! DEPENDS ON THE BRUSH 00 Three factors make for high-grade Fe” iT, PAINTER AND BRUSH hiting-Adams trace VULCAN mare Rubber Cemented BRUSHES Bristlos faneped with Vulcanized Hard Ri fi ye of the sea fo ilunrated Literature JOHN L. WHITING. 690 to 710 Harrison Avi Ore aeoh Be Lear py end the Largest in the greta JS amons <3 CREDIT me 0 Ear sicg ie freee ‘toncine TRS 8 Son tae Been SOON Sead Matas ee ane oa cry