Life, 1925-02-12 · page 36 of 36
Life — February 12, 1925 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **shaving cream advertisement**, not political satire, though it uses social commentary as a hook. The ad's humor pivots on **gender anxiety** about changing social roles. It opens by mocking outdated 19th-century fashions (full beards, restrictive skirts), then pivots darkly: since women now wear "knickies and bobs" (bobbed hair, knickers) and pursue "gubernatorial authority" (political power), men may eventually need to grow beards again to visibly distinguish themselves as male. The "disturbing thought" is that modern masculinity requires constant maintenance—daily shaving—to assert male identity in an era when women are encroaching on traditionally male domains. The well-groomed man becomes a social and business requirement, not just appearance. **The satire targets**: 1920s anxieties about feminism and women's expanding rights, framed through the lens of masculine grooming. The ad exploits these fears to sell Colgate's Rapid-Shave Cream as essential to maintaining clear gender boundaries.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE Shave every day—be comfortable COLGATES for better shaving What a difference a few years make in fashions! How absurd some of them seem to be, when we look backward! Would we be willing to adopt the grotesque styles to which our grandfathers submitted? It would take a constitutional amendment, at least, to drive us to such things. If the compelling purpose back of whiskers that reached from ear to eur, and skirts that left no room for doubt was to eliminate diffi- culty ia telling the s art, its effectiveness can hardly be questioned. Here a disturbing thought intrudes. Since women have gone in for knickies and bobs and gubernatorial authority, it is conceivable that whiskers may in time have to serve again, as they served originally, to show that men are men, The horror of such a_ possibility becomes evident when we see how the well-groomed man of today would look with such whiskers as were fashionable sixty years ago. A clean shave daily makes a wonder- ful difference for the better. It has become a. business, as well asa social require- ment. COLGATE & CO. Dept. 23 199 Fulton St, New York Please send me the Colgate’s Raped: Shar better shaving. I enclose 4 NAM aesssseeeenneeereeee TODAY—- Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream makes a wonderful lather for easy and comfort- able shaving. It emulsifies the oily coating upon each hair of the beard, permitting moisture to penetrate and soften it at the base, where the razor’s work is done. You will realize as soon as you try it that Colgate’s gives a better shave. It leaves the face soothed and velvety. Thousands of men are turning daily to this new comfort in shaving. Let us send you a trial tube of this marvelous cream—enough for 12 better shaves than you have ever had. Just fill out and mail the attached coupon, with 4c. COLGATE & CO. Established 1806 NEW YORK (| in advertising implies honesty in manufacture comicbooks.com