Life, 1926-12-30 · page 34 of 37
Life — December 30, 1926 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not a cartoon or satirical content—it's a **full-page advertisement** for the Ask Mr. Foster Travel Information Service, a real travel agency that operated for nearly forty years. The ad explains their business model: they provide free travel planning (tours, tickets, hotel reservations, introductions) with no fees charged to customers. They claim expertise from traveling over 500,000 miles annually to serve travelers "to all parts of the world." The page then lists dozens of office locations across major American cities and resort destinations, plus three executive offices (New York, Los Angeles, Jacksonville), showing the company's substantial national reach. **For a modern reader:** This represents pre-internet travel planning—when travelers needed to visit physical offices or write by mail to get professional advice about destinations, transportation, and accommodations. The emphatic tone about their free service and extensive knowledge reflects a business model that would become obsolete with online travel booking.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Ask Mr. Foster Travel Information Service LIFE is what we make it. Travel exerts a great educative influence, modifying our prejudices, enlarging our sympathies and deepening our realization of the brotherhood of all mankind. For nearly forty years we of this organization have been developing in Amer- ica an ever widening interest in travel, and we have given unrestricted service to the traveler. Our method has been considered unique because we make no charge for service and accept no fees. We study hard and travel diligently (more than 500,000 miles last year) to keep ourselves informed so that we may serve efficiently, travelers to all parts of the world; but for us our “Work is the Best Fun" because we find real joy in service. We plan tours, purchase tickets, secure reservations on transportation lines and at hotels, give cards of introduction, and supply literature and information of travel by all methods and to all parts of the world. We know of the out-of-the-way places and by-ways, as well as of the conventional tours. It would be well, therefore, for you to Ask Mr. Foster about any place, anywhere, at any time; and how to get there—"he probably knows. You are cordially invited to #sk Mr. Foster at any office, but you must come to the office—we have no facilities for giving suitable attention to inquiries by mail. WARD G. FOSTER, General Manager. Offices of the LAsk Mr. Foster Service BOSTON The Copley-Plaza Hotel BRETTON WOODS Hotel Mount Washington (summer) Ms ANCH TER, VT. The Equinox House (summer) PORTLAND, ME. Congress Square Hotel (summer) BURLINGTON, VT. Hotel Vermont (summer) EW YORK Lord & Taylor Store Hotel Pennsylvania BROOKLYN Frederick Loeser & Co. Store NEWARK L. Bamberger & Co, Store ALBANY Hotel Ten Eyck (summer) PHILADELPHIA Strawbridge & Clothier Store ATLANTIC CITY Foster Bid. Avenue BUFFALO Wm. Hengerer Co, Store DETROIT J. L. Hudson Co. Store CLEVELAND ‘The Higbee Co. Store TOLEDO ‘The Lion Dry Goods Co. Store PITTSBURGH Joseph Horne Co. Store GRAND RAPIDS Herpolsheimer Co. Store MACKINAC ISLAND The Grand Hotel (summer) CHICAGO rson Pirie Scott & Co, Store MINNEAPOLIS L. S. Donaldson Co. Store ST. LOUIS 1ags-Vandervoort-Burney Store DENVER The Denver Dry Goods Co. Store SAN FRANCISCO otel Stewart The White House Store Palace Hotel SACRAMENTO Hotel Senator PORTLAND. ORE. Meiar & Frank Co, Store Boardwalk and Michigan son Co. Store iotel Rosslyn The Ambassador Hotel PASADENA Hotel Maryland (winter) LONG BEACH Butium’s Store WASHINGTON. D.C. $03-14th St.'N. Woculwnrd Lothrop Store Executive Offices NEW YORK 130 W. 42nd St. SAN_DIEGO The First National Bank DEL MONTE Hotel Del Monte NEW ORLEANS The Roosevelt Hotel (winter) DALLAS The Baker Hotel EL PASO fotel Orndorff (winter) JACKSONVILLE Hotel Windsor Bus Station, Cor. Bay and Hogan Sts, ST. AUGUSTI Cordova Building (winter) DAYTONA BEACH 112 S. Beach St. (winter) PALM BEACH Opposite Hotel Royal Poinciana (winter) WEST PALM BEACH Hotel El Verano (winter) MIAMI Foster Blig., 106 East Flagler St ST. PETERSBURG. Central Ave. & 2nd St (winter) TAMPA Hilstore Hote! (winter) ORLAN'! The Anacbil Hotel (winter) MONTREAL Hotel Mount Royal (summer) TORONTO Hotel King Edward (summer) WeEsTERN Division Los Angeles 329 Title Insurance Bldg. SouTHERN Division Jacksonville 1623 Barnett Bldg. ‘BUSH TERMINAL PRINTING CORPORATION, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK comicbooks.com