Life — March 17, 1921 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily **advertising** for Palmolive Shaving Cream, not political satire. The top contains "Ballade of Business," a humorous poem by Charlotte Becker mocking the contradiction that successful businessmen (running shops, companies, etc.) struggle to find wives. It's gentle social commentary on work-life imbalance rather than political satire. The illustration shows two men in conversation, likely representing a businessman and a barber or salesman, supporting the product pitch below. The main content is a marketing appeal citing a survey of 1,000 men about ideal shaving cream qualities—quick shave, liberal lather, soothing properties—which Palmolive claims to provide. The "Decline" section briefly references German plots, suggesting WWI-era context, but this appears incidental to the advertisement's focus.