Life, 1923-04-26 · page 4 of 36
Life — April 26, 1923 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily an **advertisement for the Mimeograph machine**, presented as a satirical comparison to printed books. The ad's humor relies on contrasting "Old Daddy Gutenberg" (the inventor of the printing press ~500 years earlier) with modern mimeo technology. The satire suggests that while Gutenberg's achievement was impressive historically, the Mimeograph represents superior practical economy—allowing rapid, inexpensive duplication of documents, letters, forms, and diagrams without expensive printing infrastructure. The ornate oval illustration showing an open book reinforces this "progress narrative": the old method (elaborate printing) versus the new (simple mechanical copying). The ad targets businesses and institutions seeking cost-effective document reproduction, positioning the Mimeograph as democratizing technology that makes professional duplication accessible to ordinary users.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I M- The first book was a classic, but the book of the Mimeograph brings the last word in economy Old Daddy Gutenberg made the earliest printed book nearly five hundred years ago. It was also the finest book ever made. The art of printing was born in a high state of perfection. But the art of speedy and inex- pensive duplication came into the world with the Mimeograph. We want you to see the book of the Mimeograph. It is not an elaborate and exhaustive affair. You can read it in minutes. It will make clear to you how the Mimeograph is saving remarkable amounts of both time and money in unnumbered thousands of in- dustrial and educational institu- tions throughout the world. It will show you how all kinds of letters, forms, blanks, diagrams, plans, etc., can be speedily dupli- cated,.under your personal super- vision, and with unskilled hands, at almost negligible cost. It may indicate to you many ways by which you can greatly improve your own work and effect sub- stantial economies therein. Why not send a request for this interesting book “W-4” today? A. B. Dick Company, Chicago. comicbooks.com