Life, 1924-02-14 · page 36 of 36
Life — February 14, 1924 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Colgate's Rapid-Shave Cream advertisement**, not political satire. The page uses humor to sell the product. The "cartoon" element is a satirical character sketch of **John B. Frimm**, a plain-spoken small-town merchant (post office manager at Bradley's Corners) who refuses to be photographed. The joke: he has an unexplained, peculiar beard that he consciously maintains—a vanity that contradicts his claimed "plain and above board" character. The satire mocks the contradiction between his modest pretensions and his obvious pride in these distinctive whiskers. The advertisement's pitch is that Colgate's cream makes shaving so effortless that even a man like Frimm—who apparently values his whiskers—would abandon them if he tried the product's superior lathering and beard-softening properties. The technical diagram shows how the cream works at the hair base. This is lighthearted character humor deployed for advertising purposes, typical of early 20th-century Life magazine's satirical commercial approach.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This diagrammatic magnified cross-section shows how the close, moist lather made by Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream goes to the base of each hair. The oily coating upon the hair is quickly emulsified by the lather. This permits the moisture carried in the lather to soften the hair at the base, where it meets the edge of the razor. John B. Frimm, general manager of the ‘‘pust’’ office at Bradley’ s Corners, and dealer in dry goods, hardware, horehound candy, and tonics for man and beast, allowed that he would rather have a tooth pulled any time than get his photograph taken. Mr. Frimm made no claims to pulchritudinous preeminence. He was not a man of exquisite ten- dencies. No one ever caught him wearing spats or gold suspender buckles. He liked to let it be known that he was “plain and above board,’’ but there was one dark secret in his life. He never explained why he wore that kind of whiskers. If they had come upon him surreptitiously over- night he might have been exonerated, but it was dif- ficult to attribute exalted motives toa man who would 9 let such things develop while he was conscious. ( O ( ’ A Ee S What, if anything, was back of that bunch of timo- A | thy? The question need not be pressed, for it is cer- tain that if J. B. Frimm could have lathered with Rapid-Shave Cream Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream his whiskers would softens the beard at the base— have ceased to precede him when he turned a corner. where the at it done Colgate’s makes shaving so easy that no man, after lathering with it, is willing to prevent one It makes shaving so much easier altiot fis face strony finding out‘ what the and puts so much more comfort =a into it that you will be surprised at the wonderful difference. With hot or cold, soft or hard water, Colgate’s quickly nullifies the resistance of the heaviest beard. You will notice, too, that it leaves the face delightfully soothed and velvety. Let us send you a generous trial tube Please send me the free trial . free. Just fill out and mail the coupon. ‘of Colgate’s Rapid-Shave ) P 2 Cream for better, esnrr shaving, COLGATE & CO. Est, 1806 NEW YORK NOTE—Our long experience and great facilities enable us to make marvelous shaving preparations, including cream, powder, and the “Handy Grip” Shaving Stick, which is the last word in shaving economy. comicbooks.com