Life, 1920-05-13 · page 50 of 52
Life — May 13, 1920 — page 50: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **Palmolive Shaving Cream advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The "Chalk Talks for Men" headline refers to the illustrated demonstrations of the product's benefits shown by the man at the blackboard. The satire is subtle and directed at **advertising claims themselves** rather than politics. Life magazine, known for lampooning consumer culture, presents Palmolive's extravagant boasts—that the cream "multiplies itself 250 times" and requires only half a gram per shave—with tongue-in-cheek earnestness. The phrase "At Our Expense" suggests Life is mocking the company's willingness to spend lavishly on research claims. The repeated assurance that claims are "proved by scientific tests" and "not fiction" reads as satirical commentary on how advertising exploits consumer skepticism through pseudo-scientific language. The accompanying photographs of satisfied male faces reinforce the ad's persuasive intent, which Life itself appears to be gently ridiculing through its presentation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE-: CHALK TALKS _/r At Our Expense Try this shaving soap that multiplies itself 250 times ATER years of research and experi- ment, we have, step by step, accom- plished these things in Palmolive Shaving Cream We have made a soap which multiplies itself in lather 250-fold. One-half gram — a mere bit— suffices for a shave. A single tube supplies 152 shaves. That's a unique attainment. It means abundant lather from a touch of soap. Once men were quite con- tent with soap hardly one-third so prolific Quick action Every hair of the beard has an oil coat This lather instantly emulsifies that oil Then the beard—a_ horny substance quickly absorbs water. It absorbs 13 per cent of water within one minute after lath ering, as proved by laboratory tests. And that makes a wiry beard wax-like. This achievement alone cost us 18 months of effort. And we tried out 130 formulas Lasting lather This lather is creamy and tenacious. It maintains its foamy fullness for ten minutes on the face, Thus it doesn't need replace ment. Such durability in lather used to be undreamed of. It means lasting Inbri- cation for the shave This lather is also a lotion. It contains palm and olive oils. So the tenderest face requires no other application *T will amaze you Such statements, we know, sound like fiction to laymen But every fact here stated has been proved by scientific tests. Your own tests will confirm them. And they mean to you the same in luxurious shaving We are offering men a Free test tube of almolive Shaving Cream to let the its action and result Send us this coupon, and we will mail you this Free Tube. Do this for your own sake See what science has accomplished for you in this line Cut out the coupon now. THE PALMOLIVE COMPANY, Milwaukee, U.S.A, Congr-at. The Palmolive Comnany, 1950 Large size tube at your druggist's, 35c +m fereamy fullnester mineies and they ates the thave, FOR A FREE TRIAL TU I THE PALMOLIVE COMPANY, Dept. 107, Milwaukee, U. 5 A. Please send me a free trial tube of Palmolive Shaving Cream comicbooks.com \