Life, 1924-01-31 · page 4 of 36
Life — January 31, 1924 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Mimeograph machine advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes the "Mimeograph" (a duplicating device) to *Life* magazine readers as a time and money-saving tool for businesses and institutions. The ornate oval frame contains an image of the machine itself. The ad claims the device economically produces copies of letters, bulletins, diagrams, and forms at negligible cost. It highlights a specific recent case where the machine "saved more than its cost in a single week." The advertisement promises a free booklet ("W-1") explaining the machine's money-saving benefits, distributed by the A.B. Dick Company of Chicago. This represents early 20th-century office technology marketing—promoting industrial efficiency solutions to institutional buyers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
mide This is not merely a machine; it is one of the world’s greatest conservers of time and money Not only is it economizing mil- lions every year for American manufacturers, distributors and educational institutions— But it is helping to do a large amount of new and aggressive forward-work that could not be done without its use. We know of one recent instance where the Mimeograph saved more than itscostinasingleweek. And it is making a conspicuous mark just now in short-cutting ponderous systems and simplify- ing intricate problems. Every hour of the working day it easily turns out five thousand splendidly printed copies of a form letter, bulletin, diagram, or kindred matter, at a cost so small that it is practically negligible. In a simple way it reproduces tracings and drawings on the same sheet with typewriting. It brings to any institution, large or small, the speediest and most economical means of duplicating factory forms, office blanks, rate sheets, questionnaires, plans and the grist of the day’s inspirations. Our booklet“ W-1” will show you how it makes dollars by saving them. Sent free on request by the A. B. Dick Company, Chicago. comicbooks.com