Life, 1919-05-29 · page 36 of 42
Life — May 29, 1919 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct elements: a hotel advertisement (left) and an editorial statement (right). The **Hollenden hotel ad** is straightforward hospitality marketing for Cleveland. The **right-side statement** is Life magazine's defense against accusations of profiteering during the post-WWI period. The magazine explicitly lists rising costs it absorbed—postal rates (referencing Postmaster General Burleson's "zone law"), paper prices, union labor wages, and general inflation—yet claims it did *not* raise its ten-cent cover price during or after the war. This reflects genuine 1920s economic anxiety: widespread public suspicion that businesses exploited wartime conditions for excessive profits. By publicly itemizing pressures it resisted, Life positioned itself as an ethical publisher. The uniform pricing "regardless of zones" directly challenges the unpopular Burleson postal policy that increased mail delivery costs by region—a real grievance for publishers and readers alike. The statement amounts to patriotic self-promotion during economically turbulent times.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A DEFINITE refine- ment of patronage and atmosphere places The Hollenden in the front ranks of American hotels. Rates: European plan, with bath: Single, $2.00 to $4.00 Double, $4.00 to $5.50 With Twin Beds, $5.00 to $7.00 | The Hollenden Clevelan Is Not a Profiteer. In Spite of the absurd Burleson zone law which, after July first, will largely increase the cost of delivering mail to the Western and South-Western States; In Spite of the largely increased cost of coated and super-calendered paper; In Spite of the great advance in_ the wages of union labor affect- ing compositors, pressmen, feeders and binders; In Spite of increased salaries, rent, and price of all materials, Lirt did not increase its prices during the war and has not increased them since the war. Unless something un- foreseen occurs the price of Lire will remain the same as before, and uniform, re- gardless of zones. Per Copy Ten Cents Per Year United States and American Possessions Five Dollars Canada Five & 32/100 Dollars All Countries in Postal Union Six & 4/100 Dollars Strictly in Advance. Parts of a Year at Proportional Rates icomicbooks.com