Life — June 9, 1921 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is **advertising, not satire or political cartoon**. It's a Mimeograph machine advertisement from the A. B. Dick Company (Chicago and New York). The ad uses an extended metaphor comparing a bell's peal to a typewriter's output and Mimeograph duplicates—all supposedly similar in quality. The ornate oval photograph shows a large bell, illustrating the "one peal of a great bell" opening line. The advertisement emphasizes the Mimeograph's efficiency (5,000 duplicates hourly) and cost-effectiveness for "industrial and educational institutions." It claims excellent reproduction quality requires only ordinary care, not specialized skill. Readers are directed to request booklet "W-6" for more information. This reflects early-20th-century office technology marketing before photocopiers.