Life, 1920-07-29 · page 29 of 36
Life — July 29, 1920 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Gillette razor advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes the "Big Fellow," a new safety razor marketed specifically for men with large hands. The humor is mild and commercial: the ad claims that demand from "big-fisted chaps" for this oversized razor "swept over the country," supposedly revealing how many large men exist in America. The joke plays on the idea that big men had been waiting for a razor proportioned to their size. Key selling points emphasized are "No Stropping / No Honing"—advantages over traditional straight razors requiring maintenance. The product illustration shows the razor in its case alongside a brush. This is purely **product marketing** using gentle humor about physical size to appeal to masculine identity and practicality. The "Big Fellow" branding anthropomorphizes the razor itself. Gillette's international factory locations listed at bottom indicate this was a major global manufacturer by this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS is it—the Big Fellow — the sensational new Gillette. At once the greatest razor advancement of a generation and the most instantaneous suc- cess, The razor big-handed men everywhere have expectantly waited for. A new Gillette Raz the Big Fellow We never knew how many big men there are in America until a few months ago when the demand from big-fisted chaps for the Big Fellow swept over the country. Speak for your Big Fellow today. Put one of those tried Gillette Blades in it—and shave. illette Gi =< Boston No Stropping No Honing Canadian Factory: New York Paris Copenhagen Sydney Saloniki 73 St. Alesasder Chicago Milan Amsterdam Shanghai Port Elizabeth San Francisco Madrid Geneva Singapore Rio de Janeiro Ste Montreal, Quebec London Brussels Buenos Aires Calcutta Tokyo comicbooks.com