Life, 1929-06-14 · page 8 of 44
Life — June 14, 1929 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an **advertisement for the Mimeograph machine**, not political satire. The page features a photograph of the device at the top and text below titled "HE WANTED A MAP." The ad tells a narrative: a sales manager needed many maps but couldn't afford them through normal means. He purchased a Mimeograph and produced thousands of copies himself, saving money on the first job alone. The technology allowed quick, economical reproduction of maps, form letters, bulletins, and charts. The "joke" or sales pitch is that this device democratized document production—what previously required expensive commercial printing could now be done in-house by businesses and educational institutions. The advertiser (A.B. Dick Company, Chicago) is selling efficiency and cost-savings to early 20th-century organizations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE WANTED A MAP He just had to have a map—and in quantities. But Mr. Salesmanager couldn’t get the kind he wanted without prohibitive cost. So he bought a Mimeograph and produced his own maps by the tens of thousands. And thereby he saved the price of the machine on the first job it did for him. The map design was easily traced on the stencil sheet. Type- written explanatory matter was quickly added thereto. And in almost less time than it takes to tell about it, the finished sheets began to rush into the receiving It was a simple, tray—thousands every hour. quick procedure—and it saved him a great deal of time and money. And just like that the Mimeograph is economizing for thousands of business and educational institutions throughout the world by the quick and easy production of all kinds of form-letters, bulletins, charts, etc. For full particulars write A. B. Dick Company, Chicago. MIMEOGRAPH comicbooks.com