Life, 1920-02-19 · page 48 of 48
Life — February 19, 1920 — page 48: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Williams' Luxury Shaving Cream by depicting an idealized man with an exaggerated, cheerful expression applying the product. The ad's humor relies on a common early-20th-century marketing trope: the claim that this shaving cream transforms a man's temperament. The text humorously argues that Williams cream makes men so good-natured they're pleasant even before breakfast—traditionally portrayed as a cranky time. The caricatured face with its enormous grin and smooth complexion is meant to suggest the product's transformative qualities. The appeal is to masculine identity and social charm: a "good friend" who's always jovial and obliging. There is **no political commentary** here—it's straightforward consumer advertising using exaggeration and humor to sell grooming products, typical of early 20th-century American magazine marketing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Im Williams Luxury Shaving Cream “Good-natured before breakfast !” “You know the greatest test of a friend is whether he can be good-natured before breakfast. That’s where my old friend Wil s’ made his reputation, with his everlasting ew * good nature in the early morning. . . o task is too stiff for him. Blondes and_ brunettes Kouricholee of look alike to his rich and creamy lather. He is not particular about the weather. He just says ‘Come on, the water's fine’, and gets busy. Even with a dull companion he plays the game out to the last stroke. ; ‘ ; “Nobody who has ever met him has had the face to ‘THER a WILLIAMS COMPANY Engl resist his smooth manner. Ask the oldest patriarch you know Dept. A, Glastonbury, Conn. © . —he’ll put his hand on his beard and swear that Williams’ é sel ey iam some conic, fee ns the best friend a man ever had.” Williams2:: THE J.B. WILLIAMS COMPANY. GLASTONBURY. CONN, MAKERS OF WILLIAMS’ SHAVING SOAPS. TOILET SOAP TALC POWDER. DENTAL CREAM, ETC THe JBWitiias [USS vomouRy conn sea comicbooks.com