Life — March 18, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is a **print advertisement** for the Mimeograph machine by A.B. Dick Company, not a political cartoon. The ad promotes "typeless printing"—mimeograph technology that eliminates traditional metal type, allowing faster document reproduction. The image shows the machine's mechanical components. The sales pitch emphasizes practical benefits: speed (five thousand copies per hour), low cost, ease of operation requiring no special training, and widespread adoption by businesses, government, and schools. The brick/straw metaphor in the headline suggests mimeography represents progress—a "better way" compared to older printing methods. For modern readers, this highlights how revolutionary photocopying technology seemed in the early 20th century, before digital printing made even mimeographs obsolete.