Life, 1919-12-18 · page 56 of 56
Life — December 18, 1919 — page 56: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **cigarette advertisement** for Fatima brand, not political satire. The page uses a portrait of an unnamed man in formal attire alongside advertising copy. The ad's central claim is about product differentiation: Fatima cigarettes contain "just enough Turkish" tobacco—not too much—to provide flavor without excess. This targets consumers skeptical of heavily Turkish-blended cigarettes, positioning Fatima as a "sensible" middle option. The secondary pitch emphasizes that Fatima achieved top sales at Palm Beach (a luxury resort) for two consecutive seasons, beating more expensive competitors with fancy packaging. The message: quality and value triumph over pretension. The phrase "How much Turkish?" appears rhetorical—implying savvy smokers ask this question when choosing cigarettes. The overall approach uses pseudo-scientific marketing language typical of early 20th-century tobacco advertising to suggest rational consumer choice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“How much Turkish?” Fatima steadily cutsells the straight ‘Turkish cigarettes because Fatima’s biend, instead cf containirg too much Turkish, contains just enough Turkish—just cnough to taste tight, and juct enough to Icave a tan feeling right, even if he emckes more than usual, Have you ever tried smoking “just enough Turkish"? ..and at Palm Beach . Here at Palm Beach—smartest, act: perhaps, of all winter resorts— Fatima has for two seasons held the sales-leadership formerly en- joyed by the expensive, fancy- boxed "Lp Turkish cigarettes. Kigetentipratrtaas®, c-1 Sensible Cigarette comicbooks.comg