Life, 1920-10-21 · page 31 of 44
Life — October 21, 1920 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **advertising content**, not satire or political commentary. The page promotes Northern Tissue toilet paper through a product advertisement in *Life* magazine (page 731). The central image shows a woman examining a roll of tissue paper, emphasizing its quality and softness. The decorative pine tree illustrations flanking the photo reinforce the "natural" product messaging. The text emphasizes hygiene ("sterilized," "hygienically perfect") and luxury qualities ("soft as fine chamois"), positioning Northern Tissue as superior to generic "toilet paper." The ad instructs consumers to specifically request the brand by name at stores, suggesting a competitive market for bathroom tissue. This reflects early 20th-century advertising strategies that emphasized sanitation, brand differentiation, and consumer education—concepts that would have seemed novel to contemporary readers unfamiliar with branded household products.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
q From the steaming machines, which thoroughly sterilize the dainty and absorbent texture of Northern Tissue, quickly the generous rolls are twice wrapped, that they may come to you hygienically perfect, fresh, and soft as fine chamois. q There is nicety in simply asking for ‘‘Northern Tissue’’—a topping improvement in bathroom papers. Don't be satisfied with just ‘‘toilet paper’’—ask for ‘‘Northern Tissue.’’ At your dealer’s now. Made at Green Bay, Wisconsin, by the Northern Paper Mills—also manufacturers of remarkable paper towels. comicbooks.com