Life, 1923-05-24 · page 42 of 42
Life — May 24, 1923 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Colgate shaving products advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Colgate's "Handy Grip" refillable shaving stick system. The advertisement uses a modern convenience analogy—comparing inserting a new shaving stick refill to "putting a new battery in a flashlight"—to appeal to early 20th-century consumers familiar with flashlight technology. This was an innovative selling point: the reusable metal grip holder lasted years while users purchased cheap refill sticks, reducing waste and cost. The visual shows hands demonstrating the insertion process (top and bottom illustrations) and includes a circular portrait of a well-dressed man (the product's intended consumer), emphasizing the product's appeal to gentlemen concerned with grooming. The pitch emphasizes economy ("price of the soap alone"), convenience ("very simple"), and product quality (superior lather, smooth results). This represents typical early advertising strategy: positioning new consumer goods as both modern and thrifty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MA Like Putting a New Battery in a Flashlight JUTTING a Colgate “Refill” Shaving Stick into the “Handy Grip” is very simple, and it is done in a few seconds. The “Handy Grip” lasts for years. “Refills,” threaded to fit it, cost you the price of the soap alone. There is no waste. In addition to its handiness, and the economy it enables you to practice, Colgate’s makes a copious lather that softens the beard at the base, where the razor’s work is done. It leaves the face smooth, cool and refreshed. Send us 10c for the “Handy Grip,” the metal con- tainer, and a trial-size shaving stick. Then buy “Refills” anywhere, as you need them, for the price of the soap alone. Three months’ easy shaving i in each “Refill,” for less than the price of a day's cigars. COLGATE & CO., Dept. 23 199 Fulton St., New York ABIN NNIA 23 efi]] Shaving Stick comicbooks.com