Life, 1919-12-04 · page 3 of 80
Life — December 4, 1919 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not a political cartoon or satire—it's a **Whitman's chocolate advertisement** from Life magazine's "Christmas Life" section. The image shows a well-dressed woman in 1920s attire examining the contents of a "Sampler" box of Whitman's candies. The advertisement emphasizes that consumers can select Christmas sweets "just as if you selected" them personally from ten different Whitman's packages. The pitch appeals to gift-givers by suggesting the Sampler offers curated variety—candies previously chosen by "millions of Americans" since 1842. The ad notes that drug stores (the primary retail outlet of that era) sell these products. This is straightforward commercial messaging rather than editorial content, using aspirational imagery of refined femininity to market premium chocolates as an ideal Christmas gift.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas Life Just as tf you selected the Christmas sweets in the SAMPLER from len different packages of Whitman’ The candies in the Sampler were really selected by the millions of Americans who have enjoyed Whitman's since 1842. We packed selections from ten of our best-liked packages in the Sampler—sweets assorted just right for most people, and a charming introduction to ten separate Whitman’s products. Selected stores everywhere (usually the best Drug Store) are agents for the sale of the Sampler and the other Whitman packages. STEPHEN F. WHITMAN & SON. Inc., Philadelphia, U. S.A comicbooks.com