Life, 1929-04-19 · page 41 of 52
Life — April 19, 1929 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire—though it reveals attitudes that seem absurd today. The page features **Albertina Rasch**, a real celebrated dance instructor, endorsing Lucky Strike cigarettes as a diet aid. The pitch: replace candy with cigarettes to stay slim and healthy. The ad claims smoking suppresses appetite, doesn't irritate throats, and that 20,679 physicians endorse it. **The historical context**: This represents pre-regulation tobacco marketing that exploited health anxieties (particularly women's weight concerns) and falsely cited medical authority. The "toasted" process is emphasized as a health benefit. The accompanying radio promotion ("Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra") normalized smoking as glamorous and modern. **What's jarring for modern readers**: The brazen health claims, celebrity endorsement by a fitness professional, and the casual positioning of cigarettes as a healthy lifestyle choice—all made before tobacco's dangers were publicly acknowledged and regulated.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life 39 “No sweets - light a Lucky instead.” “In training so many dancers, I must emphasize the importance of physical fimess. I urge ath- letic slenderness. ‘No sweets’—I insist. ‘Just light a Lucky instead.’ This is the best slender- izing advice I can give—I know it works. My graduates are slender and graceful. Then, too, as dancing is strenuous, the wind must be pro- tected—and Luckies never tax one’s wind or irritate the throat. The toasted flavor of Luckies is certainly the reason for their supremacy.” ALBERTINA RASCH E modern common sense way— reach for a Lucky instead of a fatten- ing sweet. Everyone isdoingit—menkeep healthy and fit, women retain a good fig- ure. Lucky Strike, the finest tobaccos, skilfully blended, then toasted to develop a flavor which is a delightful alternative for that craving for fattening sweets. Toasting frees Lucky Strike from impur- p ities. 20,679 physicians recognize this Albertina when they say Luckies are less irritating Rasch * than other cigarettes. That’s why folks celebrated |i say: “It’s good to smoke Luckies.” dancing teacher , Authorities attribute the enor- ——=* mousincrease in Cigarettesmok- ing to the improvement in the process of Cigarette manufacture by the application of heat. Itistruethat during the year 1928, Lucky Strike Cigarettes showed a greater increase than all other Cigarettes com- bined. This confirms in no uncertain terms the public’s confidence in the superiority of Lucky Strike. “It’s toasted” fora Luck No Throat Irritation-No Cough. instead Goase to Pegi radia hooks every Saturday night ough ational Br iting Company’s net- ofa work The Lucky Serike Dance Orchestra fa The sweet, Tunes that made Broadway, Broadway.”” © 1929, The American Tobacco Co., Manufacturers comicbooks.com