Life — April 8, 1920 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Page Analysis This is primarily a **Mimeograph machine advertisement** from Life magazine (page 646), not a political cartoon. The ad uses a rhetorical hook about Napoleon to sell the Mimeoscope—an attachment for Mimeograph machines that allowed users to reproduce drawings, diagrams, and designs alongside typewritten text. The opening invokes Napoleon's military defeat, claiming the Austrians didn't value "ten minutes"—likely a reference to rapid communication or information dissemination. The ad argues that visual communication ("an idea well pictured") is powerful and efficient. The small photograph shows someone using the device. This is essentially **commercial messaging masquerading as editorial content**, common in early 20th-century magazines. The Napoleon reference is merely a catchy sales hook, not political satire.