Life, 1927-12-08 · page 39 of 40
Life — December 8, 1927 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **tobacco pipe advertisement**, not political satire. The page features a military officer in dress whites smoking a pipe, positioned as an aspirational figure of British imperial authority. The ad's central conceit plays on the phrase **"carrying on"**—a patriotic wartime slogan about maintaining British resolve. It claims the "BBB Own Make" pipe has accompanied British officers across the Empire (Manchester to Melbourne, Halifax to Hong Kong), thus linking pipe-smoking to imperial identity and masculine authority. The humor is subtle: American company WDC now produces these pipes in America, inverting the colonial relationship by manufacturing a quintessentially "British" product domestically. The ad sells both the pipe and an aspirational identity—smoking it means "carrying on" the traditions of empire and military dignity. This appears to be from an era when British imperial imagery still carried prestige for American consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“C A R R Y I N G@ O 2 “BBB Own Make” Pipe holds a place in history, and in the | From Manchester to Melbourne—from Halifax to Hong Kong—Englishmen have se smoke, vii = of empire —and of 1 o's rows =| { Now, WDC have « the exclusive right to produce this fine pipe . Theirs to scarry on™ the old BBB Individual Baking Process which has for generations made “BBB Own Make” the sweetest, most satisfying of pipes. T Ai T T The “BBB Own Make” Pipe is now available in a variety of shapes at the establishments of better tobacconists. $5 the pipe— plain or ripple briars. Wm. Demuth & Co., 230 Fifth Ave., New York City comicbooks.com -