Life, 1924-06-05 · page 45 of 48
Life — June 5, 1924 — page 45: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines editorial satire with product advertising, typical of early 20th-century Life magazine. **The Satire:** The lead article presents a mock "Valedictorian's Speech" where a college graduate speaks candidly about his institution's flaws—poor bench maintenance, unnecessary electric lights in romantic areas, high educational costs. The humor lies in the irreverent honesty: instead of platitudes, he offers practical (and absurd) suggestions like breeding raccoons to lower fur coat prices. A companion cartoon riffs on this theme, showing a Stone Age couple discussing inflated prices ("diplodocus has gone up again"), satirizing both inflation concerns and the timelessness of economic worry. **The Advertisement:** The bulk of the page promotes Ipana Tooth Paste, exploiting contemporary anxiety about gum disease. The ad claims refined, soft modern foods have weakened gums through lack of stimulation, requiring their product containing "ziratol" (an antiseptic) to restore health. This reflects 1920s-era concerns about civilization's physical costs and the emerging market for pharmaceutical solutions to everyday problems. The juxtaposition—frivolous satire alongside serious health marketing—captures Life's dual purpose as both humor magazine and advertising vehicle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
If the Valedictorian Really Spoke His Mind Mr. Prestpent, and Ladies and Gen tlemen : Our class has now come to the end of its college course, and it has fallen to me to bid our official farewell. In leaving this dear old place where we lived for four long years—some of us longer than that—we should be derelict indeed did we fail to render to heritage, hi slight, of our deep hopes for her future nd the betterment of those who come after us. As I look ave cast their s have betterment, at the towering elms that lows over so many sands of undergraduates, I am re- minded of the fact that just best thing the cur, buildings could do we bout the of grounds Id be to repair the benches along Lovers’ Lane and for Pete's sake remove the electric lights therefrom The old strong ap- peal for us, but it will have an even town has its stronger appeal for our successors if the New York t hep to themselves and visit it oftener and make quicker deliveries. ors will get a little here we have men arrive as fresh During our residence y kinds develop, by seen m men, and the time they reached the senior class, into true sons of our Alma Mater; this could be made even more certain by the adoption of bell-bottom trousers as standard. We have heard a good deal about lowering the cost of college educations. and we jerstand our trustees are con- cerned over the means of realizing this ideal; it is really a simple matter start by reducing fur coat pri by breeding raccoons unc i supervision. And now the faculty, those grand old hope of any but whose efforts we men, working with spiritual reward owe every low mark we ever got, and to whom we turn now in our final ges- ture of farewell, for them we leave this last message of admiration and respect, “THANK GOD!" IN THE STONE AGE “MY DEAR, THE PRICE OP DIPLODO: CUS HAS CONE UP AGAIN.” —tLe Péle-Méle (Paris). The meals of HE FOOD we eat has a great effect upon the condition of our teeth. But it is even more definitely responsible for the trouble that some of us have with our gums, For this soft, creamy food of civil- ization, © time, and ¢ has robbed the gums of the stimu- lation, of the work and massage, en over g period of ten too often in haste, which coarse food and slow mastica- tion should give. As a result, we are experiencing trouble with our gums. Even teeth —what have they done to your teeth and your gums? which have been well preserved by good care and frequent cleani not immune from troubles duc to a weakened gum structure. Does your toothbrush “show pink”? Many people find that their gums are tender. They report to their dentists that their gums have bleed, And the dentist will tell them that this appearance of pink tooth- brush” is a sign that their gums need n tendency to stimulation and exercise, How Ipana Tooth Paste stimulates your gums More than three thousand dentists, of this kind, now recom- mend Ipana Tooth Paste and pre- scribe it totheir patients. Instubborn {bleeding gums, many dentists gum m: with Ipana qfler the regular cleaning with the brush, For one of the important ingre- dients of Ipana is ziratol—an anti- septic and hemostatic well known to the profession the country over. It is used to allay the bleeding of the wound after extraction, and to help IPANA TOOTH PASTE —made by the makers of Sal Hepatica restore to the gums their normal to- . The presence of ziratol gives the power to aid in the healing ms, and tohelp to build firm, sound, healthy gum tissue. Try a tube of Ipana today if they have a leed, go to the r first tube If your gums are tender ney to be soft or te store today and buy ye of Ipana, Before you have finished using it you cannot fail to note the difference. You will be delighted with its. grit-frec consistency, its delicious flavor and its clean taste, A trial tube, enoug’ V you will furward ¢ BRISTOL-MYERS CO.,D. 42RectorStreet, NewYork, N.Y. Kindly send me a trial tube of IPANA TOOTH! PASTE without char liga tion on my part. comicbooks.com