Life, 1927-03-24 · page 31 of 38
Life — March 24, 1927 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **commercial advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It promotes the Davey Tree Expert Company's tree surgery services. The image shows a romanticized forest scene (a painting from William A. Rockefeller's Greenwich estate), meant to evoke the prestige clientele served by Davey Tree. The advertisement's strategy is to build credibility by listing prominent institutions and wealthy individuals as clients—including Samuel Insull, General Electric Company, and various railroads. A portrait of John Davey, identified as the "Founder of Tree Surgery," appears as an authority figure. The text frames tree care as professional expertise requiring trained specialists, comparing tree maintenance to dental work. It emphasizes reliability and warns against unlicensed competitors, noting that 84% of clients paid under $200 in 1926—positioning the service as affordable for the middle class despite elite associations. This reflects early 20th-century American advertising that leveraged celebrity endorsements and professional credentials to market services.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Reproduction from @ painting made on the estate of Mr. William A. Rockefeller, Greenwich, Connecticut, by Frank Swift Chase Amoce prominent persons and institu- tioas served by the Davey Tree Surzeous are the following: AUGUST! McGILL UN. SAMUEL INSULL GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY LOAN, Jr. RAILROAD COMPANY NZ TY OF ALAB. 7 A SCRIB) pHEM STEE! GoRPORATION HON, WILL H. HAYS © Me D.7. B..Co., te., 1927 To whom will you entrust your priceless trees? Davey Tree Service—reliable, proved, safe—can be had only from the Davey Company, whose experts live and work in your vicinity values and the most advanced methods of practice and the fine professional ethics. These trained, reliable Davey Tree Experts live Your trees are living things. They will usually re- spond to intelligent, skillful care, but they can’t be patched like a brick wall or treated by careless, un- trained hands—if you want to save them. While occasional trees are nearly perfect, most trees require some care in varying degrees. The majority probably need only limited treatment to pre- vent more serious troubles later—like teeth. Some are in advanced states of decay or decline. Ifa tree is worth saving, it is worth reliable expert service. Every Davey Tree Expert is Davey trained—is trained before he is allowed to work on your price- less trees. Men who are dishonest or lazy or careless are eliminated from the Davey organization as quickly as they are found, nearly all of them in the training school. The result is that only the right kind of men are left, and all of them are thoroughly trained by Davey experts who know Tree Surgery and work in your vicinity. They are easily and quickly available to you. Nocar fare is charged and you pay only for actual working time at reasonable rates, plus the necessary materials and the cost of delivering them, You can afford Davey Tree Expert Service. Eighty-four per cent ot Davey clients in 1926 paid less than $200.00 each. The total volume of business last year was $2,000,000, but the bulk of this was made up of small operations for people of moderate means who appreciate their trees as living things and priceless possessions. Above everything, get reliability. Davey Tree Experts will save your trees without guessing or experiment. Write or wire nearest office. THE DAVEY TREE EXPERT CO., Inc., 735 City Bank Bldg., Kent, Ohio Branch offces with tele Statler Bldg.; Pittsfield, Aner Bile 9 ‘ashi red New York, 601 Stevenson’ Bi ) Savings Bank Bidg.; Boston, 705 Le pid Baltimore, nati, Mereantile Library Bldg.; Lowisri! . Louis, Areade Buy. Recs i ity, Searnitt Bldg. Weat, amford onn., Gurley Bldg. DAVEY TREE SURGEONS Esery rea Davey Tree Surgeon is inthe employ of The Davey Tree Experi Sprrement made with the Dasey Company and not with an individual é certain evidence of gen: 1Co., Inc., and the public is cautioned against those falsely representing themselves. An weineness. Protect yourself from im; Your trees who is not directly in our employ and claims to be a Dasey man, write "hondeserters Sor his record. Save yourself from tors. If anyone solicits the care toss and your trees from comicbooks.com