Life, 1920-05-13 · page 35 of 52
Life — May 13, 1920 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an **advertisement**, not a political cartoon, though it uses a prominent political figure for marketing purposes. **The Figure:** Gov. Lowden appears to be **Frank O. Lowden**, Illinois governor (served 1917-1921), shown as impressed by the speed of mass personalized correspondence. **The Pitch:** The ad claims the Addressograph machine can produce 5,000 personalized letters in 72 hours—so convincingly that the Governor thought they were individually typewritten. The machine prints names, addresses, and salutations while being "15 times faster" than human typists. **The Satire/Joke:** The subtle humor lies in using a real politician's name to imply he was fooled into thinking mass-produced form letters were genuine personal correspondence—a gentle jab at politicians' use of standardized messaging while appearing personal to constituents. **Context:** This reflects 1920s concerns about emerging mass-communication technology and the growing gap between authentic and mechanically-replicated personal contact in business and politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
So Personal Appearing that Gov. Lowden thought them typewritten! ECENTLY, Gov. Lowden wanted to write 5,000 influential citizens. Speed was imperative. A vital public matter needed support. Stereotyped messages wouldn’t do. Only PERSONAL letters could win the attention required, But finishing the job in 72 hours was the problem. An alert clerk got busy. Four hours later Gov. Lowden marveled that 5,000 names, addresses, salutations and dates could be so quickly typewritten without error—and that 5,000 addressed envelopes were also ready. “Thought typists were scarce!’’ exclaimed the Governor. ‘*How did you secure enough to do this so quickly ?’’ “We didn't,” was the reply. “We used the RIBBON PRINT Addressograph, which fills-in letters and addresses envelopes as well as typists with the typewriter—but 15 fines faster—without errors!” Much mail you receive, and think typewritten, is .\ddressograph-ed! Investigate — our salesman will demonstrate the 1920 “typewriter-size” Addressograph at your desk! 743M Broadway NEW YORK comicbooks.com