Life, 1924-07-03 · page 36 of 36
Life — July 3, 1924 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. The page uses humor to market shaving cream by mocking old-fashioned beards. The central figure appears to be a **generic caricature of a 19th-century lawyer or orator**—described as a "deckle-edged ornament of the bar"—with an exaggerated long beard. The satire mocks how such men relied on facial hair to express emotion during courtroom arguments or public speeches, hissing defiantly or speaking "softly" through their whiskers. The joke: in "his day" shaving was difficult, so men kept unsightly beards "that were worthy of better things." Colgate's modern shaving cream solves this problem, making daily shaving easy and comfortable. The accompanying diagram explains the product's mechanism. This reflects early-20th-century advertising that positioned modern consumer goods as solving old-fashioned inconveniences—here, replacing the necessity of keeping a beard due to poor shaving technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SHAVE EVERY DAY ~ BE COMFORTABLE OLGATE'S softens the beard at the base When this deckle-edged ornament of the bar summed up before a jury or addressed a Fourth of July assemblage he relied very largely upon his facial forget-me-nots for assistance in registering emotion. He could hiss defiantly through those matted tendrils, if hissing seemed to be in order; but when soulful sentiment stirred him, his sibilant speech took on the characteristics of the soft south wind soughing among stately pines. In his day shaving was a hard task, and whiskers were permitted, for that reason, to protrude from many chins that were worthy of better things. There wasnothingthen like Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream for making lather to soften the beard at the base. Colgate’s makes shaving easy, and it leaves the face cool, soothed, and velvety. You will marvel at the great difference it makes for the better. TOdvINnHKiA Let us send you a trial tube of this wonderful cream, enough for 12 better shaves than you have ever had. Just fill out and mail the coupon, with 4 cents, This diagrammatic magnified cross-sec- tion shows how the close, moist lather made by Colgate’s . xf Repia stays = re oestothe base of eacl Ope as s . ey, . fair. The oily coating 199 Fulton Street, uponthehairisquickly emulsified, and the hair is softened at the base, where it meets the edge of the razor. comicbooks.com