Life — December 28, 1922 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Discounting the Count" - Life Magazine, December 26, 1922 This page is primarily **advertising copy**, not a political cartoon. It's an editorial message from Life's advertising manager explaining how modern business practices have transformed distribution and sales. The title "Discounting the Count" is a pun: it plays on the obsolete position of a "Count" (a feudal overlord managing 500 people) to argue that such hierarchical business structures are outdated. Modern transportation, sales methods, and advertising have "broken the shackles of time," allowing simultaneous nationwide product distribution. The piece positions Life's advertisements as a "truthful catalog of needed merchandise" that guides consumers. The message ends with "Gee. Bee. Are." (an acronym for the advertising managers listed below). This reflects 1920s optimism about mass marketing and national commerce replacing older commercial systems.