Life, 1919-04-24 · page 36 of 46
Life — April 24, 1919 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, not political satire. It contains two large commercial advertisements with one small illustration. The **Martin & Martin shoes ad** (left) is a straightforward luxury product pitch emphasizing quality, comfort, and customer service. The company positions itself as premium but economical over time. The **Faultless pajamas ad** (right) features an illustration of a man in nightwear and includes a small cartoon below. The cartoon shows a woman handing a telegram to a young man, with her caption suggesting he should read it privately rather than in front of her—likely a joke about romantic or embarrassing correspondence. The humor appears to relate to 1920s social propriety around intimate matters. The page reflects typical early-20th-century magazine advertising: luxury goods marketed to cultivated consumers, emphasis on quality and service, and light domestic humor. No political commentary is evident.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Martin &3 Martin shoes are the finest shoes that can be made. Their elegance is the result of gua/ity—it is inherent and unmistakable. That is why cultivated shoe buyers prefer them over all others. This inherent, in-built gva/ity makes them also, of course, the most comfortable, as well as the most economical shoes to wear. (They cost more per pair than some other shoes, but less per year than any others.) The service that goes with these shoes is the kind of service that you have a right to expect. It is a service that regards the correct solution of your particular shoe problem as not only the first, but the on/y consideration of any im- portance. Messrs. Martin & Martin are not interested in the immediate sa/, but in the permanent customer. This policy takes care of the sales. If you are interested in such shoes and in such service as this—then you are a logical patron of these stores, whether your first interest is in fashion, in foot com- fort, or in economy. Martin ¢3 Martin Shoes Are Priced at TEN t TWENTY DOLLARS (Those who cannot visit the stores buy. satisfac- torily by mail. Our fitting charts, simple, accu- rate, and easily used, will be sent upon request.) Martin €% Martin ‘Fine Shoes and Hosiery for Men and Women New York: 583 Vifth Avenue G 1 Kast Thirty-fifth Street Chicago: 326 Michigan Avenue y Night Shirts “The NIGHTwear of a Nation!” “xpectations urlous J ounging- E.RosENFELD & Co. Baltimore New York Lady: 1 MAY ue OLD-FASHIONED, YOUNG MAN, auT South MAND YOU A PRIVATE TELEGRAM, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'D RETTER'N TO READ EVERY WORD OF IT BEFORE MY EYES.