Life, 1928-12-07 · page 64 of 64
Life — December 7, 1928 — page 64: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a **full-page advertisement** for Crane plumbing fixtures. The image shows an ornate Moroccan-inspired bathroom interior designed to appeal to wealthy American consumers. The text describes how a Massachusetts man created a "Moroccan retreat" in his home using Crane bathroom products, positioning luxury plumbing as a way to achieve exotic, aspirational living spaces. The marketing strategy conflates **colonial tourism aesthetics** (references to Fez, Morocco, the Nile) with **modern American domestic convenience**. By framing Crane fixtures as enabling this fantasy, the ad suggests that installing their products grants access to worldly sophistication and escape from everyday heat and drudgery. The phrase "costs no more" is the sales pitch: luxury need not be prohibitively expensive. This reflects early-20th-century consumer capitalism targeting affluent readers of *Life* magazine. There is **no satire or political commentary**—just commercial persuasion through aspirational imagery.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FIXTURES, 'N the shaded quiet interior of his house in Fez, Morocco, a man from Massachusetts found refuge from tropic heat. This replica of one of his rooms, cleverly turned to American uses, is witness of the Crane contribution to bathroom beauty and to plumbing convenience. In the floor, in the mirror flanked by medicine compartments, are reflected the Nile green of wainscot. The inviting coolness of a pool set in the forest is suggested by the Tamia bath in its recess. Crane fixtures, truly economical and delightful in decorative effect, are shown in a series of charming rooms in the book, New Ideas for Bathrooms. A request brings it. When you consult a responsible plumbing contractor, you will be pleased to learn that a complete the Elegia lavatory, the green and blue of the | Crane installation costs no more. &CRANE & VALVES, FITTINGS, AND PIPING, FOR DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL Crane Co., General Offices, 836 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. * New York Office, 23 W. 44th St. ¢ Branches and sales offices in one hundred and sixty-six cities comicbooks.com USE