Life, 1920-07-01 · page 14 of 56
Life — July 1, 1920 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **commercial advertisement**, not a cartoon or satire. It promotes the Mimeograph, a printing technology by A.B. Dick Company. The ad uses a **horse-racing metaphor** to sell the machine's speed advantage. The image shows a horse (the "Mimeograph") outpacing competitors in a race, with the headline "Developed for speed!" The text compares the machine to a cart-horse that "never wins in the great race"—implying inferior competitors cannot match the Mimeograph's performance. The core sales pitch emphasizes **speed and cost-efficiency**: the machine can produce 5,000 reproductions hourly, saving businesses both "time and money." This appeals to early 20th-century business efficiency concerns. The ad directs readers to request promotional booklet "W-7."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Developed for speed! The ambitious son of a cart-horse never wins in the great race—only thoroughbreds dominate there. Through many generations the Mimeograph has been trained for speed. It might print even better than does a fine engraver’s press, but it would not command the place it does in the business world of today were it not for the remarkable rapidity of its delivery. With it the inspiration of this hour becomes the business-building power of the next. Five thousand splendid reproductions of a letter, or other typewritten sheet or drawing, is its customary hourly out- put—forty and more thousands a day. A means of saving those two most important things—time and money—for you, as for thousands of others! Send for booklet ‘W-7” today— from A. B. Dick Company, Chicago—and New York. NINESGRATH comicbooks#com