Life — April 8, 1920 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily a **subscription advertisement** for Life magazine, using humor to promote a special "Smokes Number" issue dedicated to tobacco. The main cartoon shows a man in formal attire smoking a cigar while viewing what appears to be a theatrical or cinematic scene. The caption quotes Rudyard Kipling: "A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke." The accompanying caricatured head (lower left) with a cigar reinforces the tobacco theme humorously. The satire works on a simple level: the ad jokingly suggests Life will defend tobacco consumption—treating a consumer product with mock-serious journalistic treatment. For modern readers, it's notable as period advertising that openly celebrated smoking without health warnings, reflecting early 20th-century attitudes toward tobacco.