Life — September 14, 1922 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is primarily an **advertisement for the Mimeograph**, a duplicating machine made by A.B. Dick Company. The ad is not satirical or political. The text celebrates imagination as essential to American business success, arguing that the mimeograph—by efficiently reproducing documents at scale—helps realize ambitious ideas. It claims the machine produces "five thousand an hour—at almost negligible cost" and can duplicate both typewritten and handwritten sheets. The oval image shows the mimeograph machine itself. The ornate border and placement in *Life* magazine suggests this was premium advertising space. The message targets business and educational institutions by positioning the technology as vital infrastructure for modern American enterprise.