Life, 1926-01-28 · page 34 of 36
Life — January 28, 1926 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece features a domestic argument between a husband and wife (labeled "Andy Consumer") about whether he *chose* to buy a cash register or was manipulated into wanting one through advertising and salesmen. The wife's argument: he never thought of cash registers until bombarded by marketing. He was a passive "oyster" needing to be pried open by persuasive selling tactics—not a rational consumer making independent choices. The husband eventually concedes she's right, accepting that advertising "victimizes" people into buying things they didn't know they needed, but concluding he's happy with the purchase anyway. The satire critiques early 20th-century consumer culture and advertising's power to *create* desire rather than fulfill existing wants. The tagline—"The National Advertiser Bets His Advertising Money That His Product Is Right"—suggests that aggressive marketing, not product merit, drives sales. It's a commentary on how consumers are shaped by commercial forces, not independent agents.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“—ARE SOLD, NOT BOUGHT.” “T SUPPOSE you would have INVENTED a cash register if there hadn't been one on the market,’ said Mrs. Consumer to me sarcastically. “Well—* “It would have been SOME cash register! You can't drive a tack!" This family quarrel occurred a year ago. I had just bought a new cash register and then heard the com- pany’s slogan was “Cash registers are sold, not bought.” “They didn’t sell me! I bought it!’ | protested to Mrs. Consumer. “Listen, Papa.” she continued. “The idea of a cash register never entered your head until you began to read cash-register advertising and listen to cash-register salesmen and to all the merchants in town who had ‘em and liked ‘em. If you hadn't, you would still be keeping your money—or part of it—in a cigar box with a bicycle bell on it. If birds like you weren't victimized by the good things of life you'd never get “em.” After a year. | know Mrs. C. was right. At any rate, I don’t care how I got my cash register—I'm glad I got it. I suppose I AM something of an oyster. If it takes advertising and selling to open my shell and give me what I need. all right, boys, advertise and sell me. I'll buy. Hr2cly Consume, U THE NATIONAL ADVERTISER BETS HIS | — || ADVERTISING MONEY THAT HIS PRODUCT IS RIGHT | = ‘DUSH TERMINAL PRINTING CORPORATION, BROOKLYN, MEW YORK comicbooks.com