Life, 1926-01-21 · page 27 of 36
Life — January 21, 1926 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **radio receiver advertisement** disguised as satirical social commentary, appearing in *Life* magazine (likely 1920s, based on the Synchrophase radio model). The "satire" targets young women by redefining all their activities—from retail work to flirtation—as "work" designed to manipulate fathers into buying consumer goods. It names specific female archetypes: "Rosie" (shopgirl), "Annie" (secretary), "Tottie Brightlite" (social climber), and "little Gloria Staholm" (daddy's girl). The joke is that even innocent affection becomes instrumentalized—Gloria playfully pulling her father's ear is "working" him. The advertisement then explicitly instructs girls to use these manipulation tactics to persuade fathers to purchase the Grebe Synchrophase radio, touting its technical superiority (Colortone, Low-Wave Extension Circuits, Binocular Coils). Rather than genuine satire, this is **manipulative advertising** using humor to suggest that consumer persuasion is women's "natural work," reducing female agency to salesmanship for their fathers' benefit.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
C SVOU girls are workers—all of you, from Rosie behind the counter of Main Street’s Great Emporium or Annie taking dicta- tion in Wall Street to Tottie Brightlite who works Jack Nuriche for the good things of life. Even when little Gloria Staholm slips an arm around Daddy’s neck and playfully pulls his ear, she’s ¢ working—Dad. And why not? How else to gain those things that make life pleasant ? One of the easiest jobs, girls, is to persuade Dad to buy a Synchrophase. Get the dealer to demonstrate the exclusive Grebe features and Dad will want a Synchrophase as badly as you do. _Ask about the ‘Colortone,’’ which gives you control over ,/~the quality of sound no matter what the loud speaker may be like; about the Low-Wave Extension Circuits which tune-in over 100 stations other sets cannot reach; about the Binocular Coils that bring in the station you want and shut out the others. Ask about all of these Grebe devel- opments, then compare Grebe re- ception with that of other receivers. N\ V A. H. Grebe & Co., Inc., 109 West 57th St., New York { Factory: Richmond Hill, N. Y. Western Branch: 443 So. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, Cal. — The oe Reg. U8. Pat O85 TRADE MAGK REG US PAT OFF All Grebe apparatus 7 is covered by patents granted and pending. L Pate Hy This company owns and operates stations W’AHG and WBOQ It is written “When the sweat has dried, the la- | | bor's forgotten.” | he | tones of the Syn- =| chrophase. comicbooks.com