Life — December 2, 1920 — page 74: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a **Christmas-season advertisement** for Egyptian Deities brand cigarettes, appearing in Life magazine. The ad uses Egyptian imagery and packaging as its selling point, displaying cigarette boxes decorated with Egyptian motifs and hieroglyphics. The tagline claims these are "The Utmost in Cigarettes" available in "Plain End or Cork Tip" varieties. The bottom text states that "People of culture and refinement invariably PREFER Deities to any other cigarette." This reflects early 20th-century marketing strategy: associating consumer products with exotic, "sophisticated" imagery (here, Ancient Egypt) to appeal to aspirational middle and upper-class buyers. The emphasis on "culture and refinement" was standard advertising rhetoric of this era. The Christmas presentation suggests gifting luxury cigarettes as holiday presents.