Life, 1919-09-11 · page 31 of 48
Life — September 11, 1919 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising for the Addressograph machine**, not political satire. The top features a letter from John Magnus & Company (dated August 7, 1919) testimonial, followed by a large advertisement promoting the Hand Addressograph device. The advertisement's pitch centers on **office efficiency and cost savings**. It argues that manual address-writing by pen or typewriter is slow and error-prone, while the Addressograph—a mechanical addressing machine—is faster and more accurate. The headline claims "Magnus Saves $10,000" to demonstrate return on investment. The photograph shows a woman operating the machine, which automatically addresses envelopes or forms. The device can handle "7,500 an hour—100 per cent accuracy," according to the text box. **For modern readers**: This reflects early 20th-century concerns about **business automation and labor efficiency**. The Addressograph represents the kind of mechanical innovation that promised to streamline repetitive clerical work—a major workplace issue of that era when businesses were rapidly scaling up mail-based operations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
tt ” OKWERAL MERCHANDISE execurwe orrices Cmerco. Aagast 7, 1919. eogrerk Co. jan baren $t., mi. of cur Zqoipsent bas been v0 ya very cled to rese= a 100 percent accuracy. Magnus Saves $10,000 You Can Save Proportionately You must write names. Whether 50 ora million doesn’t matter. But why the pen or type- writer method? It’s the slowest—most inaccurate —most costly! $52.50 buys a Hand Addressograph. It’s 10 times faster. Never makes mistakes, omissions or duplications. Handles y form on which names, addresses, dates, symbols, ete., are copied or listed. Ribbon Print—work looks exactly like best type- writing. An Addressograph always saves far more than it costs! Doubt it? All right! Let’s prove it with- out cost to you. Try a Hand Addressograph under your actual working conditions for 10 days. Return itif you don’t buy. Stop that leak! Write or ‘phone.