Life, 1920-01-01 · page 8 of 48
Life — January 1, 1920 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an **advertisement**, not a political cartoon. It promotes the Mimeograph machine, manufactured by A.B. Dick Company of Chicago and New York. The ad's headline "Man-power!" uses a muscular male figure to metaphorically argue that tools extend human capability. The text compares the brain's limitations to muscular strength—both can accomplish more with proper equipment. The Mimeograph, it claims, enables rapid duplication of documents (letters, forms, drawings) without typesetting, producing "first copies ready within a few minutes" from a single stencil. This was revolutionary for early 20th-century offices and schools. The pitch targets institutions wanting efficiency: the machine supposedly multiplies intellectual and administrative output, making it economically valuable for "industrial and educational institutions throughout the world."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Man-power! The sturdiest- brawn, like the keenest brain, is limited by the tools it uses. You couldn’t be in five thousand different places tomorrow. Yet, by the use of the right tool, you can send your thought there—in fine form—at small cost. The Mimeograph will do that work for you in an hour. It duplicates letters, forms, blanks, drawings, etc., quicker than that work can be done by other means. No type to set—first copies ready within a few minutes—with many thousands rapidly delivered from a single stencil. Clear work, cleanly done! Just as good muscles do infinitely more when equipped with high-power tools, so do good minds widen the areas of their forces by the use of the Mimeograph. Let us show you what it has done in industrial and educational institutions throughout the world. Ask for booklet‘‘W” from A. B. Dick Company, Chicago—and NewYork. comicbooks.com