Life, 1925-09-17 · page 36 of 36
Life — September 17, 1925 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The "satire" is gentle and commercial rather than political. The ad uses a "Yesterday vs. Today" comparison structure. The left side mocks bearded men of the past—invoking "Uncle Zachariah" and old photographs—suggesting that visible whiskers made respectable men look ridiculous ("partial eclipse"). The ad humorously argues that historical figures succeeded *despite* their beards, implying they'd have done better clean-shaven. The right side presents a modern, clean-shaven businessman as the ideal. The copy emphasizes that daily shaving has become both a "business" and "social requirement"—a pitch that cleanliness and grooming equal respectability and success. The underlying message: **modern masculine success requires daily shaving with Colgate's product**. This reflects early 20th-century advertising's promotion of grooming as a marker of civilization and social fitness. There's no specific political figure or event referenced—just period attitudes about masculinity, modernity, and propriety.
📄 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 COLGATES softens the beard at the base Bers ae YESTERDAY ~ Many men have been good or great or both, in spite of whiskers that were as needless as four-wheel brakes on a wheel- barrow. It is well, therefore, to approach the old plush album in a spirit of reverence. Behind Uncle Zachariah’s bewildering begonias there may have been genial im- pulses that never got the publicity they deserved. Imagine how your own radiance would he dimmed if a tangled mass of whiskers made you look like a partial eclipse. Fortunately there is no longer any reason why a man should permit a bas- ketful of furniture stuffing to make him seem what he is not. Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream has made shaving so easy, and has taken discom- fort out of it so thoroughly, that whiskers have ceased to crowd into society, and few of them continue to accumulate icicles. Aclean shave daily has become a business as well as a social requirement. COLGATE & CO. Dept. 23 581 Fifth Ave., Ni Please send. met vl Colgate’s Rapid. Cream for beuer shaving. Jose 4. Address Truth in advertising LIFE TODAY~ Colgate’s Rapid-Shave Cream makes a wonderful lather for easy and com- fortable 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, So 581 Fifth Ave. NEW YORK In Canadat Colgate & Co., Limited, 72 St. Ambroise St., Montreal comicbooks.com