Life, 1920-12-02 · page 12 of 97
Life — December 2, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily an **advertisement for Empire Loomcraft Silks**, not political satire. The top image shows what appears to be a formal Christmas gathering or dinner scene with men in period dress around a table. The ad's text emphasizes that self-respect depends on "outward bearing" and being "rightly clothed"—arguing that wearing quality silk shirts (specifically those bearing the Empire brand name) conveys respectability and success to the world. The humor, if any, is gentle: the ad suggests that proper clothing is a shortcut to social confidence and professional success. This reflects early 20th-century advertising's focus on linking consumer goods to character and social status—a common marketing approach of the era that modern readers might find amusingly superficial or manipulative.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
+ CHRISTMAS LIFE: cfs “respect, chief factor in a successful career, is largely the inward manifés- tation ofan cutward bearing, The man who is comfortable in the secure knowledge of being. rightly clothed need beg no favors of the world. That secure knowledge is most easily attained hy insisting upon the EMPIRE name woven in the selvage of a piece of silk, or the label in the Finished garment Send for New Book of Silks. The SUPREME SILK a MEN'S SHIRTS Ticatera SILKS REO Ue. PAT ore EMPIRE SILK COMPANY, 335 Fourth Avenue, New York comicbooks.com