Life — August 16, 1928 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page mixes advertisements with satirical content typical of Life magazine's format. The **left side** advertises Hinds Cream shaving product with instructional diagrams showing application steps. The **center** contains "Ballade of an Alarming Epidemic" by N.D. Plume, a satirical poem mocking 1920s collecting crazes. It references real figures like **Washington** and **Bet-a-Million Gates** (a known wealthy collector), while skewering nouveau-riche Americans obsessively accumulating antiques and curios. The "nouveau-antiquarian" refrain satirizes pretentious social climbing through acquisition. The **right side** advertises Welch's grape juice, using a illustration of refreshing drinks. The poem's satire targets materialism and status-seeking among the wealthy during the prosperous 1920s—a common Life magazine theme mocking American consumer culture and affectation.