Life, 1923-09-13 · page 31 of 36
Life — September 13, 1923 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and corporate public relations**, not political satire. The dominant feature is a Bell System advertisement depicting stockholder growth through silhouetted crowd figures labeled with years (1907-1925), illustrating the company's expansion. The accompanying text emphasizes that AT&T is owned by over 270,000 ordinary Americans—"the average man and woman, the storekeeper, the clerk, the salesman"—each holding modest shares (averaging 26). This presentation counters potential criticism of monopolistic corporate power by portraying wide, democratic ownership. The left column contains a poem titled "Autumn," likely unrelated to the Bell content—standard magazine filler. Below are advertisements for WASCO garage heating systems and Q-W dog remedies—typical early 20th-century product marketing. There is **no political cartoon or satire** on this page. The Bell System ad functions as defensive corporate messaging, subtly arguing that large American corporations serve ordinary citizens who collectively own them.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Autumn Cones the autumn chill and sere, Saddest time of all the year. Back from woodland, fen and brake, ; from seashore, back from lake, from mountain, beach and farm, © we come in endless swarm. ner’s golden days forgot. we sad? I'll say we're not. the quiet summer night, ing ere the day is light, i by sounds of barnyard fight. to scare a Bedlamite. petrified by fright. 1 to breakfast. Joyous sight, igh the eggs don’t taste just right, An! the milk is thin though white. 7 re woods we now take flight, “sly try with all our might These groups of stockholders illustrate the rapid growth in ownership of the Bell System. ro find the country’s famed delight, Joy. of which the poets write. ° e ° | vee the poison y's bight A Community of Owners Nation-wide f the dread mosquito bite. | @ ss x < we go, disgusted quite. ‘Who owns the company?” ownership in the Bell System our host, a rustic wight, “What is behind it?” These appeals to sound business judg- Doosenberry, hight, ti ked i . t d trained f Thinks’ hie has to: be. polite, questions are asked in apprais- ment and a trained sense. o To's us jokes and stories trite. ing the soundness of a business values. tr. M., we're sleeping tight. + Ini i i . . | and in determining its aims. In this community of owners ' umn comes. Those joys are done. The American Telephone are the average man and woman, 1 sree glade! You Sat : . and Telegraph Company is_ the storekeeper, the clerk, the d Nei owned by more than 270,000 _ salesman, the professional man, d x Why did people living in every state in the farmer and the housewife— ks. NEW: hy i yor come . hi * ; SHeti: §€ you aidatt intend ‘0 the Union. Could the stock- users of the telephone who with ) F holders of the Bell System be their savings have purchased a } iam Tm me Blige seston, But gathered to one place, they share in its ownership. The ‘ve only just discovered that you're . + yee 5 ° 0 not in the Social Register. would equal the population of average individual holding 5 — a city about the size of Provi- but twenty-six shares. 0 ; DRIVE IN AND OUT OF A dence or Denver. No institution is more popu- WARM GARAGE ALL WINTER They constitute a representa- larly owned than the Bell t = F tive cross-section of American System, none has its shares dis- a citizenship. Among them, of tributed more widely. In the ; i ee course, are bankers and men of _ truest sense it is owned by those large affairs; for the idea of _ it serves. Enj the same comfort that tens of “BELL SYSTEM” thou-inds did with their WA4SCO Systems durin the past long drawn-out winter. Beca ise of the patented automatic regula- tion, no matter how cold the night, your AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES garave is always warm—your car warm One Policy, One System, Universal Service, and all directed ry, ready to start. toward Better Sercice | THE WASCQ REGULATES ITSELF |- = — ALL WINTER WITHOUT ATTENTION | © Things Which Have Been Free Dog Book You nly put on a little coal once a day, You i DO) T ‘touch the drafts. Our patented auto- Given to Me i 1 sis ‘ ; by noted specialist. Tells how to fescue All coat eon hot wate heats aud (And Which I Do Not Want) FEED AND TRAIN radio ors.” Shipped all built—any handy man " your dog Sets 1 up. OF connected to city water. Wrong telephone numbers. KEEP HIM HEALTHY ‘rte esany for Catalogue and pies Ui Nasty looks CURE DOU” DISEASES Som: good territory open for live distributors, ay : How to put dog ta condition, kill Advice. fleas, cure scratching, mange. dis- A. Scuterr Mre. Co., INC.} One more chance. temper. Gives twenty-five famous Eastwood Station, Syracuse, N. Y. Three. puesses: Q.- WwW Doc REMEDIES t Also Hell. and 150 illustrations of dogs leads, training collars, 1 used ais harness, stripping combs, dog houses, etc. Mailed free. Something to remember for : ‘Sites The opportunity of a lifetime. Oey bone ORES READY-TO-SET-UP Cottages H. HS: 5 comicbooks.com