Life, 1923-10-25 · page 3 of 34
Life — October 25, 1923 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **primarily a cigarette advertisement** for Lucky Strike tobacco, not a political cartoon. The ad uses a Napoleon reference as its hook: "You know what Napoleon said about the last quarter of an hour!" It claims Napoleon valued the final moments before victory—comparing this to Lucky Strike's "Toasted Process," a 45-minute manufacturing step that allegedly seals in flavor. The "Confessions of a T.B.M." piece on the left is unrelated satirical commentary about urban entertainment preferences—someone humorously admitting they don't attend jazz clubs or cabarets despite living in town. The advertisement's closing tagline—"Change to the brand that never changes"—ironically reflects how cigarette marketing worked: emphasizing consistency and tradition as selling points. This is a straightforward commercial message disguised as clever wit, typical of 1920s advertising strategy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Bok Prize Hickory, dickory, dock! 1 radio message from Bok— Hark to the hue and cry! The world is all awry. A hundred thousand guilders T international builders Wh. can make a plan so wise As to win my generous prize! It nyust settle reparations, Side-step the League of Nations, Yet keep the big and little states in their several stations ; Mu.t fund the debts and pay the bets And satisfy the various “vets,” Their kith and kin and all their inter- onal relations ; find a way for Poincaré ave the Ruhr without delay, vilize his men and then itch them on vacations ; stabilize the German mark, stop the Prussian dachshund’s tamp out every smoldering spark kindles conflagrations. Hickory, dickory, dock! th me! the prise of Bok. The vest-laid plan of any man Wh. calls himself American At \Vashington must win or lose You know what Napoleon said about the last quarter of an hour! H E SAID it is the last quarter of an hour that wins battles. In some cases, of course, it takes three- quarters of an hour. Napoleon was speaking of the spirit that wins rather than of the time it takes. The Toasted Process, for ex- ample, takes 45 minutes, but it’s just that last 45 minutes that seals the flavor in and gives LUCKY thy Senate's commendations— And ‘here are those who will oppose, from all the indications. STRIKE the true plantation tang of fine tobaccos. It costs a fortune, but it saves the flavor. But ‘ark to the hue and cry! The world is all awry, And America must wake and try to sense her obligations, Set right the Senate clock, And fix the signal block, And give the open right of way to the Peace eed = a plan of Bok. ee ; HicKeoR: And that’s worth three-quarters of an hour! CHANGE TO THE BRAND THAT NEVER CHANGES The Confessions of a T. B. M. | \m not bald-headed, and do not care to watch musical comedies from the first row. In truth, I do not cary to watch musical comedies at all. do not attend cabarets every nigst of my life, nor do I know all the latest dance steps. I detest the sound of Jazz. !y the time I arrive uptown, I am usvally so exhausted that I had far raiier go to bed after dinner than do anything else I can think of. But, alas! I must play the absurd part that has been written for me and simulate a gay dog, a cutter-up, a high-stepper. Thus is the nightly razzle-dazzle of the town laid at my door—my door, which, had I my own say in the mat- ter, would be securely locked and barred to all, once the curfew had tolled its gentle ding-dong. C.G. S. LUCKY STRIKE ITS TOASTED comicbooks.com