Life, 1919-11-20 · page 25 of 46
Life — November 20, 1919 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement for the Addressograph**, a mechanical name-and-address printing machine. There is no political cartoon here. The ad uses a endorsement strategy: it features an actual letter from the **New York Central Railroad's Treasury Department** (dated September 1919) praising the Addressograph equipment they've purchased. A woman operator is shown at the machine. The pitch targets businesses needing to handle large volumes of names—on mailing lists, payrolls, ledgers. The machine's selling points: it prints fifteen times faster than handwriting, produces clean results from metal plates, costs little to operate, and quickly pays for itself. For modern readers: this represents pre-digital office automation. The Addressograph was a genuine labor-saving device of the era, solving a real problem businesses faced before computers. The testimonial from a major railroad lends credibility to what was then cutting-edge clerical technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NEW YORK CENTRAL LINES TREASURY OLPARTMENT GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL New vorK September 18th, 1919 Addressograph Company, 901 #. Van Buren Street. Chicago, Illinois. Gentiesen:- Me have pleasure in advising you that the Addressograph equipsent ebich has been con- Bav Ty placed an order vith your New York branch for a new electrically operated Addressograph card index eachine with attachzents. Youre very truly/, The ew York Central Railroad Co. ‘ and stores—in all businesses, small and large—the Address- ograph handles names, addresses, dates, symbols, etc., rapidly, ac- curately and economically. Names on your mailing lists, your payroll, your ledger—names of your pros- pects, customers, employees—al/ names are written by the Address- ograph fifteen times faster and neater than by pen or typewriter. Errors or omissions are impossible. L: railroads and banks, factories Prints from indestructible metal plates, easily made in your own office. Names indexed and classi- fied any way your present system requires. Costs little to operate. Quickly pays for itself in time and money saved. There is an Addressograph for every need—hand, foot-lever or electric drive models.