Life, 1919-08-21 · page 36 of 40
Life — August 21, 1919 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **two distinct pieces of satirical content**: **"The Great Task of Construction"** is a Bell Telephone System advertisement framed as public service messaging about post-WWI telephone infrastructure expansion. The accompanying cartoon imagines a dystopian future where achieving utopia requires: massive war (sacrificing 25 million), then a Peace League causing endless controversy, plus added chaos from fanatics, war profiteers, idealists, and Bolshevists. The satire targets post-war optimism—suggesting that achieving peace and progress is nearly impossible given competing interests and ideological conflicts. **"If the Advertising Men Wrote History"** mocks corporate advertising by reimagining major WWI events (the Battle of Château-Thierry, the Treaty of Paris, President Wilson's return) as product endorsements. Each historical moment becomes a sales pitch for branded goods like "Kant-Klog" or "Holdfast Livy-White Enamel." This satirizes how aggressively advertisers were colonizing American culture and consciousness in the post-war era. The page also includes unrelated advertisements (Evans Ale, Oneona beverage) and a brief romantic dialogue.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Great Task With the coming of peace the Bell System faced an enormous construction program. Conditions arising from war resulted in the wiping out of reserve equipment nor- mally maintained, and necessary to give prompt connection to new subscribers. The release of industry and accumulated growth of population now makes tele- phone demands almost overwhelming. Telephone construction, including build- ings, switchboards, conduits, cables and toll lines, must, from its inherent nature, be undertaken in large units. A metropolitan switchboard, with its tens of thousands of parts, may require from two to three years to construct and install. Only great extension can meet the present AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One System One Policy Coming? HE process of developing the mil- lennium still goes on. It takes time to develop any millennium, and we should not be unduly discouraged First, we must have a large war in which some twenty-five millions are sacrificed. Then, in or- at the delay. der to prepare for more wars, we must have a Peace League, which lead to such interminable controversies that the middle-class people who have of Construction excess burden of traffic and provide for future requirements. Extension which cares for immediate demand, only, is un- economical and calls for continuous work | of such a character as to be frequently | detrimental to the service. During the war the Bell System devoted all its margin to the needs of the Govern- ment. The great task of getting back to normal pre-war excellence of operation | requires the reestablishment of an eco- | nomic operating margin capable of taking care of a larger growth than has ever be- fore confronted the Bell System. Construction is being pushed to the limit of menandmatenials; whileevery effortisbeing made to provide the best, present service. Universal Service given up for the war shall begin to To this add the Fanatic, the Profiteer, the Idealist and the Bolshe- vist. Your millennium is then ready starve. to get busy—say, in a few hundred more light-years, ILLY: little me to attract a man of the world like you? Buty: You are the only girl that never asked me if she was the only girl I ever loved. What is there about poor f® Sa sia eo ome tear es Ye Catre of Sciel Lip Convenient lo Cheatres and Steps FEAT AE aE AE AED If the Advertising Men Wrote History ITF, Rattle of Chitean-T America’s pre Celebrated Kant-Klog Self-Adjusting tions. fF troops continued to press for Argonne, wearing weig Look for the N Y Z label. The first American contin the Rhine sing M. Cohan “It's a Gr nposer of “Over There” Old Rag.” “1 Am from Yankeeland,” ete. etc. Try them of The Treaty of Peace v ned in Paris, France, by of Cheatem’s Nevafayde Writing (ff teen cents the bottler on Bleachen’s Non-Scrapable Legal Cap Paper, the Kind that Lasts. The war officially came to an ead shortly after the return of President Wilson to the White House, so called because of its coat of Holdfast Liy- White Enamel, Splashit & Smearon, sole distributors, Was! gton, D.C. YOU KNOW EVANS! HERE'S THEIR LATEST WALSTON A delicious beverage that pleases JUST THE’ BREW FOR YOU ORDE ) REST DEALER comicbooks.conmy