Life, 1929-04-05 · page 35 of 56
Life — April 5, 1929 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Gillette Safety Razor blades by depicting the anxieties of modern morning routines. The ad opens with relatable complaints—late nights, poor sleep, business worries, disruptions from dogs and babies, jangled nerves, irritable skin—establishing that mornings are stressful. The pitch: a fresh Gillette blade provides "comfort" amid this chaos. The accompanying photograph shows a man shaving, illustrating the product in use. The text emphasizes manufacturing quality: $12 million in machinery, 25-year continuous improvement, and a quality-control system where inspectors receive bonuses for rejecting defective blades. This appeals to consumer confidence. The message: while external conditions vary unpredictably, Gillette blades remain consistently reliable—"the one constant factor in your daily shave." It's a straightforward consumer pitch using emotional relatability rather than humor or satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life 33 + ana so to bed. ++ late+++ too much supper. ++ wish I could get to sleep.-+ bad dreams «.+ business worrtes ++ dog barks +++ baby cries «++ time to get up +++ sangled nerves _. drvitable skin. — then is the time your skin needs the comfort of a fresh Gillette Blade Tuergare mornings when a fresh Gillette Blade is better than any pick-me-up you cn THE NEW FIFTY BOX Fifty fresh double-edged Gilletre ame. Blades (10 Packets of fives) in a : colorful chest that will serve you And there are morn: afterward a3 a sturdy button box, ings when your beard Cigatette box or jewel case... Ideal, 35 2 gift, too. Five dollars at your is as tough and blue as sealer’. your state of mind; when the hot water faucet runs cold and your shaving cream is down to the last squeeze and you scarcely have time to lather anyway; mornings when all the cards seem stacked against your Gillette, But slip in a fresh blade. Enjoy the same smooth, clean shave that you get on the finest morning. You have to go through the Gillette factory to understand how it's possible to pack so much de- pendable shaving comfort into a razor blade. There you see some $12,000,000 worth of machin- ery invented and improved continuously for twenty- five years for just one purpose: to make the Gillette Blade — every Gillette Blade — do its smooth, expert job every morning for the thirty million Americans who count on it. There you see in operation the unique system which makes four out of nine Gillette blade depart- ment workers inspectors — paid a bonus for every de- fective blade they discard. At least a dozen varying conditions affect the com- fort of your shave. But the Gillette blade doesn’t change. It is the one constant factor in your daily shave. Gillette Safety Razor Co., Boston, U.S. A. *+* Gillette <p comicbooks.com