Life, 1919-05-22 · page 35 of 42
Life — May 22, 1919 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **full-page advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It promotes the Ruud Automatic Gas Water Heater to American households. The three illustrated faucets at top (Bath, Kitchen, Laundry) demonstrate the product's main selling point: **instant hot water throughout the home**—a genuine luxury for the era when hot water was typically limited and required waiting. The advertisement's social messaging reflects early 20th-century concerns: it emphasizes convenience for housewives and mentions "more contented domestic help," revealing class anxieties about servant retention during labor shortages. The pitch that unlimited hot water is "like installing another bathroom" underscores how scarce this amenity was. The device itself appears as a large cylindrical tank with copper coils and an automatic gas valve—a genuine innovation claiming twenty-two years of reliable service. The copy stresses reliability and ease of installation by "any plumber." This represents straightforward product marketing rather than satirical content—a common feature in *Life* magazine's pages alongside actual editorial cartoons and humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Laundry — 4 Hot Wate Bom the Ruud Water Heater means instantaneous, unlimited, steaming hot water from every hot-water faucet the house, summer and winter, day and night. Hot-Water Service from a Ruud Water Heater means plenty of hot water for bathing and shaving at times. In effect, this is like installing another bathroom, for limited hot water at infrequent times means nent an Bver baths. heise Ruud Hot-Water Service means more contented domestic help. It means no waiting for hot water, From filling a hot-water , , te at midaight to washing a car on a midsummer afternoon, Ruud Hot-Water Service means a prompt, steaming jet of hot pter from the opening of the faucet to the closing of it. a RUUD nd nine ae ieee OS AUTOMATIC GAS ae WATER HEATER “e ] 1 “* Hot Water All Over the House” The Ruud Water Heater that gives you the unmatched home comfort of constant hot water is shown here, but do not think so much of the machine you buy as of the service it gives. For the Ruud Water Heater, once installed in your home, can be left alone. It is so complete, so thoroughly well made, that it goes on year after year automatically. When a hot-water faucet is opened, been for, it turns a hot flame of gas upon a series of copper coils through which the fresh water passes. When cal sube { g the water is turned off, the gas is automatically shut off, except for a tiny pilot flame. The temperature i - for which you set it regulates the amount of gas consumed. A temperature regulator keeps the water from ever getting too hot or not hot enough. You heat only the water you need, while you need it, Ruud Water Heaters have been in satisfactory service for as long as twenty-two years. They last. They are as easy to install in a home already built as in a new building. Any plumber, gas company, or gas-appliance store can give you full details about the Ruud Water Heater. The principle is reasonably simple. It’s getting a heater made with the Ruud care and strength that means constant, uninterrupted Hot-Water Service year after year. Ruud Branch Offices are located in all the principal cities. If you live near one go in and see the Ruud for yourself. Ruud Booklet Mailed Free with complete descriptive matter, telling all about Ruud Instantaneous HotWater Service. Address Home Office or nearest Branch or Agency. See the Ruud at any of these branch offices and agencies bette Street Cotembus, 41 W. Long Street Loulseille, 2098. Third Street Portland. Ore.. 412 Gaseo Bat W. Uexiogtin Street Dallas, 1201 Commerce Street La Angeles. 16 8 Broadway Rochester, Rochester Ry & Ui Daston, 17 Rockwood Avewus Milwautee, 89 Biddle Street Sea Francisca, 421 Sutter Detroit. 903 Park Building ois Duluth, 118 W. Superior Street Indianapolis, 207 Wume-Maovar Bldg Kansas . City, Mo., 1268 Mala Stree Wasblagtoa, 111 Thirteeoth St, N, W. RUUD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Dept. C, PITTSBURGH, PA. Makers of Standardized Gas Water Heaters RUUD MANUFACTURING CO. OF CANADA, 371 Adelaide St. W., Toronto comicbooks.com