Life, 1920-10-14 · page 41 of 44
Life — October 14, 1920 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains advertisements and a satirical essay by Agnes Repplier about missing mail during the Wilson administration. **The Main Content:** Repplier humorously speculates where lost letters go. She suggests three possibilities: the Secret Service (implying government surveillance), Soviet-style mail inspection conspiracies, or—most likely—that the Post Office is collecting paper scraps for their weight value (worth "$1 a hundredweight") to fund departmental operations. **The Political Context:** The essay references **Postmaster General Albert Burleson**, Wilson's appointee known for censoring mail during WWI. Repplier's gentle satire mocks government inefficiency and hints at mail surveillance under the guise of patriotism, a real concern during wartime censorship. **The Advertisements:** Include Lablache face powder, L.E. Waterman fountain pens (with promotional handwriting), Washington's Coffee, and a small cartoon about visiting doctors—typical period advertisements with no particular satirical content. The page reflects early-20th-century anxieties about government overreach during wartime.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ABIencH Those to the manor born sense the quality al of Lablache—the powder supreme. Like old friends, it wears best and is closely Hcinging. A dainty toilet HAT becomes of the multitudinous letters which are confided to the United States mail, and which never reach their destination? In the process of be- ing lost, where do they go, and what is their ultimate fate? We cannot think that they are collected and preserved for Mr. Burleson’s light reading, because we are aware that lightness and readableness are seldom their characteristics. No one who writes or receives letters has any iusion on the subject of their vivacity. There is, of course, the secret service to consider; but, outside of Soviet Russia, wbody is on a lively lookout for con- siracies. In Muscovy, where corre- spondents are possibly few and conspira- tors certainly many, it may be worth while to keep the mail under supervision ; bot in our land of freedom and rudimen- tary education such labor is inconceivable. Lastly comes the practical suggestion that paper is worth a dollar a hundred- Weight, and that the Post Office may be endeavoring to turn the letters to some weful purpose. Every loyal citizen must approve of departmenta' thrift; and though it may take a great many inter- cepted letters to reach the hundredweight, sill a dollar is a dollar. If the govern- ment is going to make a good use of that money, none of us can reasonably object to the loss of our morning mail, Only, we'd like to know. Agnes Repplier. Gl oe ee: and iti ateter tka. tedlz vt ee Mues ial alos “Cee mib te sui Y Rand urritiiag os ly bbe ato i ogy a aos okior ~ Sera ded Uh ra ae oe lh ed =e aay mea . res ji ei No ofRer pen a ack Like this Ct, L. E. Waterman Company 191 Broadway, New York 24 School Street, Boston 129 South State Street, Chicago, Ill. 17 Stockton Street, San Francisco Made’ In The Cup At The Table fiee-Pot needed—no trouble—no waste. Measure its Cost by the eo ot by the bulk. The most delicious coffee. “ jHealthful—E. asy: ‘ecipe Booklet Fr rete Walkington Sales Co., Inc., ea FI Avenue, New York COFFEE ORIGINATED BY SR WASUINGTON CX NOW YOU LOOK 70 A MEDICAL FRIEND comicbooks.com