Judge, 1916-12-30 · page 21 of 29
Judge — December 30, 1916 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **advertising content**, not satire or political commentary. The United States Rubber Company has purchased a full-page advertisement in *Judge* magazine to promote its products and corporate history. The page uses a narrative hook—a romanticized family history of rubber shoes from great-grandfather to present day—to establish brand prestige. It contrasts past scarcity (shoes with no distinction between left and right) with modern industrial abundance and specialization. The "romance" claim is ironic: the text argues that rubber's real adventure comes not from jungle exploration but from **American manufacturing innovation**. The company emphasizes its dominance (producing more than all competitors combined) and product range, from footwear to automobile tires to electrical insulation. The small decorative illustrations of shoes frame the text, while a company seal appears mid-page for credibility. This reflects early 20th-century advertising strategy: using nostalgia and nationalist pride to sell industrial products as markers of progress and American superiority.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
We EN your great-grand- father wanted his shoes waterproofed, he probably sent them to Brazil by his friend, the captain of the good ship “Sarah Ann.” There they were dipped in latex, the liquid from the rubber tree. Your grandfather’s first rub- ber shoes were made on straight lasts. In those days there were neither rights nor lefts, and rubber shoes were few. How times have changed! The United States Rubber’ Company produces millions of pairs of rubber footwear every year—several times as much as any other manufacturer, and more than all others com- bined—footwear that is fash- ioned to fit and fitted to fashion. Included are rubber over- shoes, shoes with rubber soles for street and home as well as sporting wear, and rubber boots and shoes for every purpose. The romance of rubber comes less from the jungles along the Amazon than from the rubber manufacturer. In the factory, rubber has been developed almost The Romance Zp of Rubber overnight, as if by magic, and set to serve humanity. The first company was licensed to make rubber goods only 74 years ago. This rub- ber factory, the ancestor of all rubber factories, enlarged, and other firms since founded, are the units which form the United States Rubber Company, the’ largest rubber manufac- turer in the world. The 47 great factories of the United States Rubber Com- pany produce not only foot- wear, but also, on the same gigantic scale, weatherproof clothing, tires for automo- biles, motor trucks and all other vehicles, druggists’ rubber goods, insulated wire, soles and heels, belt- ing, hose, packing, mechan- ical and moulded rubber goods of every description. Rubber has become an ab- solute necessity to mankind. The United States Rubber Company is valuable to thepublicbecauseit makes an infinite variety and im- mense volume of high- quality rubber goods. United States Rubber Company comicbooks.com