Life, 1929-07-05 · page 38 of 41
Life — July 5, 1929 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **cigarette advertisement** for Fatima brand cigarettes, using a pun-based sales pitch common to early 20th-century advertising. The illustration depicts two figures in athletic poses (appearing to be swimmers or divers in motion), used to visualize the ad's wordplay: "what a whale of a difference just a few *strides* make" versus "what a whale of a difference just a few *cents* make." The joke equates small physical movements with the modest price premium—implying that Fatima cigarettes offer superior "tobacco-goodness" for only a few extra cents. The right column contains book reviews and literary excerpts, unrelated to the advertisement. The bottom section is a **theater ticket order form** for Life magazine's subscription service. This reflects 1920s-era advertising strategy: punning wordplay, athletic imagery suggesting vitality, and emphasis on value pricing to justify product quality over cheaper competitors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life what a whale of a difference just ga few shudes make .. Yo. and what a whale of a difference just a few cents make A definite extra price for a definite extra tobacco-goodness atima_ CIGARETTES Liacerr & Myers Tosacco Co. LIFE’s Theatre Ticket Service 598 Madison Ave., New York City PURCHASE ORDER (Instructions for using on Page 28) Dear Lire: I want tickets for the following shows: (Name of show) (No. Seats) (Date) Check for $ 5 Name enclosed Address Tus Penton Press Co., CLEVELAND From The New Books The critic leaves at curtain fall To find, in starting to review it, He scarcely saw the play at all For watching his reaction to it. —The Lady is Cold by E. B. W. Father shouted: “Waterspouts to Vrerrer’w'di” “Strum the m'n'tch!”” His voice shook the air. “Avast with the poop, and trim the tr’b'lts!” “Aye, aye, sir!” everybody replied, having no idea what he meant. “Tr'f'g in the blizzzz’m’brghtweh!” bellowed father. “Why, surely, sir,” replied the em- barrassed sailors, running in all direc- tions, some hoisting the sails, others reefing them, others lowering the anchor or nervously shifting the cargo, while two or three in their confusion manned a life boat and rowed rapidly away to the cast. “Luff up a bit!” roared father to me; so I put my arms around a nearby sailor and luffed up a bit. Obedience is the first law of the sea. —Salt Water Taffy by Corey Ford. This is a day of specializing, es- pecially with the doctors. Say, for in- stance, there is something the matter with your right eye. You go to a doc- tor and he tells you, “I am sorry, but T am a left-eye doctor; I make a spe cialty of left eyes.” Take the throat business for instance. A doctor that doctors on the upper part of your throat he doesn’t even know where the lower part goes to. And the highest priced one of all of them is another bird that just tells you which doctor to go to. —Ether and Me by Will Rogers. Leibnitz was of the opinion that whether a man should marry is a question requiring a lifetime of con- sideration; and our young men appar- ently agree with him. Some of them reflect too long, and become bachelors, wedded to ennui; one sees them in the parks, trying to catch life at second hand from second-hand newspapers; or at the cabaret, listless, tired of their kaleidoscope of legs, discovering that all chorus girls are alike, and bored at last even by vice. —Mansions of Philosophy by Will Durant. comicbooks.com