Life, 1926-02-11 · page 4 of 40
Life — February 11, 1926 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **silver tableware advertisement** for Reed & Barton, a Massachusetts silverware manufacturer established over 100 years prior to this publication. The ad promotes their "Wakefield" pattern in solid silver, using patriotic imagery centered on a portrait (appearing to be a historical American figure, likely colonial-era based on the styling). The left side shows a small colonial scene, while the right displays the actual silverware pattern. The text frames the product as reviving "the memory of a famous but almost forgotten birthplace"—connecting the tableware to American heritage and colonial history. This is **not political satire** but rather **commercial marketing** that leverages nostalgia and patriotic sentiment to sell luxury goods to affluent consumers, a common advertising strategy of the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
as ; eA New Pattern in Solid Silver That ‘Revives the Memory of a Famous But Almost Forgotten Birthplace HE weeds run in riotous possession of Wakefield today, and only the gaunt spectre of an ancient chimney marks the hearthstone of the nation’s first President The Wakefield that gave Washington to America is almost obscured and forgotten: Perhaps then, it is fitting that Wakefield with its memories of bygone glories—with its fallen walls that once echoed the laughter of the countryside’s gentlefolk, should have tnspited Reed & Barton designers to achieve the very latest in Colonial silverware design In the Wakefield Pattern in solid silver, there is the unparalleled beauty of perfect simplicity that is characteristic of the Colo- nial Period. You admire the Wakefield Pat- tern for what it is—its grace, its charm, its perfect proportions —rather than for any dec- orative motif that has been applied to it. And so we announce this new pattern as a distinct triumph in silverware design. Per- haps you, too, when you view it will catch the spirit it awakens of the Wakefield of old, with its stately elms, its gentle, soft-voiced -gaiety, and even the gleam of candlelight on other silver that once served the First House of the Land. Perhaps !you'll see in the basic worth of Wakefield Solid Silver another suggestion of the sterling character of the man birthplace it takes its name. Ask your jeweler to show yeu this unusual pattern today. It is typical in design and workmanship of the character of fine table- ware that has been produced by Reed & Barton for more than a century. “4 . All dines, dessert and breakfast knives have the new Mirrenstele blades (registered trade mark applied for.) They are stainless steel with all the brilliance and lustre of silver. Furnished exclusively in Reed & Barton Solid Silver Flatware rom whose D& BARTON, TAUNTON, MASS. ESTABLISHED OVER. 100 YEARS OLID SILVERWARE ~ PLATED SILVERWARE SSSSESSTTTSITITG 3 mmx i comicbooks.com