Life, 1920-05-20 · page 39 of 48
Life — May 20, 1920 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **print advertisement**, not a political cartoon. It appears on page 959 of *Life* magazine and promotes Warren's Standard Printing Papers. The "Thumbprint of Goliath" is a metaphor: the advertisement uses three fingerprint images of increasing size to illustrate how paper quality affects printing clarity. The larger the thumbprint, the more visible the detail—analogous to how superior paper stock produces clearer, sharper printed impressions. The text argues that while different papers may appear identical to readers, printers recognize crucial differences in surface quality and consistency. Warren's standardized paper grades eliminate uncertainty for professional printers. The piece targets commercial printing professionals and catalog printers, emphasizing that better paper quality equals better printing results. The biblical "Goliath" reference appears to be simply attention-grabbing wordplay, likely suggesting scale or impressiveness rather than carrying specific satirical meaning.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Thumbprint of Goliath FHUMBPRI whether done with ink LN against a smooth sheet of glass or out- + lined in jam wu a baby’s bib, contains the simpler elements of catalog printing © bigger the ghumbprint, the bigger the de- The smoother the surface against which the is pressed, the clearer the impression be- relation of surface to clear impressions is asic reason for the difference between ordi- srinting and Better Printing. you, the reader, paper is but the body of a magazine, or catal but to the printer, is a surface, upon which his types and + must print, or his work is disappointing to clt and to his customers. © sheets of paper may look alike and feel but print differently. For that reason, Briefly classified, the Warren Lostro t of surface im ghessy < "s Warrentown Cos fie hail-tone and pe berland Coated B Lint glossy-coated 1. standardization of printing paper quality is simply the production of a standardized surface upon which a standardized printing impression may he produced The Warren Standard Printing Vapers are divided into a dozen grades, each developed for a particular field of book paper printing. The use y Warren Standard removes from both printer and buyer of printing much of that ele- ment of uncertainty so disturbing to every man who is striving to do good work Your printer can show printing specimens on the Warren Standard Printing Papers Most catalog printers possess books that we have prepared aining much constructive ma- terial for users of commercial printing who are serious students of better printing S. D. WARREN COMPANY, Boston, Mass Standard Printing Papers are Warren's Cumberland Super Book Siner-calenered paper of stanAank, uniform Warren's Cumberland Machine Bs Je, hand sorted better ewe better printing | paper comicbooks.com