Life, 1923-08-16 · page 31 of 36
Life — August 16, 1923 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon but a corporate advertisement** for Western Electric, the major telephone equipment manufacturer. The page promotes Western Electric's use of industrial diamonds in telephone manufacturing—demonstrating economic efficiency and precision engineering. Multiple photographs show workers using diamond-tipped tools to cut and finish telephone components with superior sharpness and durability compared to steel tools. The "joke" in the headline "When diamond cuts diamond" is wordplay: literally, one diamond tool cuts another diamond, while idiomatically the phrase suggests shrewd negotiation. The ad argues that using expensive diamonds is actually economical because they last three months versus five minutes for steel on hard materials, reducing replacement costs. The referenced "Milady's ring" compares industrial diamond use to jewelry diamonds, making the technology relatable to general readers. This represents early 20th-century corporate messaging emphasizing scientific precision and cost-effectiveness in manufacturing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IN THIS INSTRUMENT one diamond is cut into shape by another diamond which revolves rapidly. The operator listens to the click-click through his telephone head set and adjusts the diamonds till the right click tells him they are making proper contact, When diamond cuts diamond —an incident in making telephones RGUMENTS for buying diamonds are familiar to everybody. Possibly a new one is economy. Yet it is a fact that the makers of your telephone find it a real economy to use Bae ah diamond pointed tools in many cutting op- , erations which require a sharp, hard edge. On materials which would blunt hard steel in five minutes, there are diamonds Ghisiethe in use here three months before their edge diamond — EVEN THE DIAMOND, after { a long period of cutting hard needs to be renewed. rubbes, peeda'to have i odes Just another indication that Western Elec- punked wwith diamond dust for tric practices economy as well as speed and ) sn Sheaaten, Goss the sharpening —much as facets are cut on the accuracy in the production of a telephone. stone in Milady’s ring. Western Electric Since 1869 makers of electrical equipment TOOLING SWITCHBOARD KEY HANDLES. Adiamond is need- ed in working on theserubber parts, since itskeen edge reduces the fric- tion of the cutting operation—and heat from excessive friction might melt the rubber, BLACK DIAMONDS TOO! A fact. Grains of coal inside the transmi ter are a vital part of YOUR TELEPHONE RE- — ite very CEIVER owes its smooth = surface to thesharpness of the diamond. In the ma- chine pictured here this Jewel is trimming away the rough edges, to prepare the receiver for your hand and comicbooks.com