Life — May 6, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a **Mimeograph machine advertisement**, not political satire. The image shows an archer drawing a bow—a visual metaphor for precision and speed. The ad compares the mimeograph to archery: "Zing—to a thousand targets!" The mimeograph is pitched as a business tool for rapid document reproduction—announcements, sales letters, maps, bulletins, and diagrams—capable of producing "five thousand reproductions an hour." The ad emphasizes its efficiency compared to typewriters and salesmen ("single shots"), positioning it as a revolutionary duplicating technology. The A.B. Dick Company is promoting their mimeograph by contrasting traditional one-off communication methods with this machine's ability to "spread your story" to "unnumbered thousands" simultaneously and cost-effectively. This reflects early-20th-century enthusiasm for office technology and mass communication.