Life, 1927-03-31 · page 2 of 35
Life — March 31, 1927 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward **advertisement for Sheaffer's pens and pencils**, likely from the 1920s-1930s based on the Art Deco styling and typography. The page uses ornamental Art Deco borders and displays Sheaffer writing instruments arranged artistically atop a decorative base. The ad emphasizes the pen's durability and beauty, claiming it can survive being run over by automobiles or dropped from balloons while maintaining a lifetime guarantee. The text stresses both aesthetic appeal ("strikingly beautiful in appearance") and practical reliability ("always dependable writing instrument"). Pricing and retailer information appear at bottom. This represents typical luxury goods marketing of the era, targeting affluent consumers who valued both craftsmanship and permanence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Identify the Lifetin pen by this white dot In tune with the most exacting conceptions of beauty The first thing, that ought to be said about a Sheaffer Lifetime” pen is that it is beautiful. It is strikingly beautiful in appearance. It is outstandingly beautiful in performance. Its beauty is more than surface-deep. The jewel-like Radite of its sturdy barrel is but one of the fine factors that $0 to make it an always depend- able writing instrument. That it is practically inde- structible, that it may be run over by automobiles, or thrown from balloons without hurt, that it is unre- servedly guaranteed to last for a lifetime, is but in- surance of the permanence of its outrankin}, beauty. “Lifetime” pen in green or black, $8.75, Ladies’, $7.50—pencil, $4.25 At better stores everywhere HEAFFER'S PENS*PENCILS*>SKR 'W. A. SHEAFFER PEN COMPANY - FORT MADISON, IOWA NEW YORK - 80 FIFTH AVENUE LONDON ~ 199 REGENT STREET WELLINGTON. NEW ZEALAND ~ 8 MANNERS STREET SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - 160 GEORGE STREET, WEST FE SHEAFFER'S comicbooks.com