Life, 1923-02-01 · page 4 of 40
Life — February 1, 1923 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **advertising, not satire or editorial content**. It's a full-page promotional piece for the Mimeograph machine by A.B. Dick Company. The page uses a bust sculpture (appearing to depict a businessman or industrialist, though unidentified) framed ornamentally to appeal to executives. The ad's pitch emphasizes how mimeographs increase business efficiency by rapidly duplicating documents—letters, memos, forms, plans—at minimal cost. The "democracy of business" framing suggests democratizing access to professional document reproduction, previously expensive or time-consuming. The repeated rhetorical questions target busy executives by quantifying time-savings. This reflects early 20th-century industrial-era marketing: positioning new office technology as essential to American business competitiveness and employee productivity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To executives in the democracy of business the Mimeograph brings a new kind of independence What would it be worth to you if you could save a full hour in every day’s work? What would it be worth to you if you could free the time of many of your associates from mere details for more impor- tant undertakings? What would it be worth to you to have a silent helper strenu- ously working for the simpli- fying of your business, for dissemination of your best in- spiration, for the private and speedy duplication of impor- tant bulletins, forms, plans, etc., at almost negligible cost? If these things count, then you need a Mimeograph. In unnumbered thousands of business and educational insti- tutions throughout the world the Mimeograph is saving a surprising and stupendous amount of time and money. Its hourly grist of five thou- sand well printed copies of a letter, memorandum, blank, tag, of chart work, designs, or kindred recording, is a mighty factor in American efficiency. Is it not worth your while right now to write the A. B. Dick Company, Chicago, for book- let “W-2” and information as to how the Mimeograph has brought a greater indepen- dence to American business? comicbooks.com