Life, 1923-05-17 · page 2 of 46
Life — May 17, 1923 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward **advertisement and industrial feature article** for Western Electric. The content explains how telephone receiver cases are manufactured, presented as a "curious sidelight" in industrial production. Six numbered photographs show the manufacturing process: mixing rubber compounds, operating machinery that combines materials, rolling sheets, shaping strips in molds, baking components, and final finishing. The headline playfully compares the process to baking biscuits—the receiver case is "made to a recipe, baked like a biscuit"—but this is purely illustrative advertising language, not satire. **No political references, caricatures, or satirical commentary are present.** This represents Life magazine's common practice of publishing advertiser-sponsored industrial features alongside entertainment content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lire: Published W is _Fatere “ ° ww York, 598" Madi i, NY. a Company ‘at 59 3 The rolling pin outdone. A It takes three men to = work this one, which rolls the mooth sheets 1 Crude rubber. Looks like dough, doesn’t it? Several kinds of rubber are used, and to get the right results these varieties must be put to- gether according to a recipe. 4 Strips in the shape of a telephone re- ceiver are punched out of the rubber. These strips, in pairs, with a mold between them, are then put into a closed baking pan. This machine combines the different kinds of rubber. The principle is the same as with biscuit dough—to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Made to a rec:pe, baked like a biscuit OU may be interested to know that the process for making your tele- phone receiver case is for all the world the way Mother makes her biscuit. The pictures tell the story—one cf many curious sidelights in the develop- ment of Western Electric telephones. A fascinating work, but an exacting one. It demands constant testing of : . . ‘ Baking on a grand scale. materials and improvement in design 5 Baking on acarand ss Te and the methods of manufacture. ceiver forms into an oven. i The heat there would scorch The result? A telephone that is the Fic oF Lowe rnade He standard the world over. cuit, but it’s needed to vul- canize the rubber. Western Electric = Since 1869 Makers of Electrical Equipm: The receiver ease, baked hard to well protect the del- No. 3 of a serie icate mechanism it is to co Ne Se It next goes through a finishirg and polishing process to pre- pare it for your telephone. on raw materials, comicbooks.com