Life, 1924-02-28 · page 2 of 36
Life — February 28, 1924 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Mimeograph advertisement**, not political satire. The ornate illustration depicts allegorical figures in a moonlit scene, likely representing time's passage and efficiency. The text's core message is commercial: "time is the most important thing in the world—and he who uses it best succeeds best." The ad argues that the Mimeograph machine—which produces multiple document copies quickly—helps organizations and businesses maximize productivity by "speeding hours an amazing amount of skilful service." The A.B. Dick Company (Chicago) positions their Mimeograph as a time-saving tool whose regular hourly output "has saved...an incalculable amount of money" for institutions worldwide. The satire, if present, is gentle: the grandiose artistic framing ironically contrasts with promoting a mundane office machine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The sun-dial measures off little pieces of eternity. Little pieces of eternity that must be used while they are here —for once passed they never can be retrieved! In some hands they are intangi- ble fragments of small worth, lightly tossed into the everlasting discard. But for those who have seeing eyes and.comprehending minds they are realities of first impor- tance, that must be put to imme- diate and utmost service. Into these little fragments of eternity the Mimeograph packs a peculiar quantity and quality of worth while work. As a tool for cramming into the Time—time is the most impor- tant thing in the world—and he who uses it best succeeds best speeding hours an amazing amount of skillful service, the Mimeograph is a supreme achievement. Its regular hourly output of five thousand well printed duplicates of letters, bulletins, forms or designs has saved, for commer- cial and educational institutions throughout the world, an incal- culable amount of time—there- fore an uncountable sum of money, What others have found so neces- sary, surely must be worthy of your immediate consideration. The A. B. Dick Company, Chicago, will send, without charge, booklet W-2, which may give you some new ideas con- cerning the importance of time. comicbooks.com