Life — April 16, 1903 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is **not a cartoon or satire page**—it's a straightforward advertisement for the Columbia Mark XLI, a 24 horsepower gasoline touring car manufactured by the Electric Vehicle Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The page features technical specifications and mechanical diagrams highlighting the car's innovations: a new four-cylinder engine, removable ignition plugs, interchangeable parts, and improved braking and steering systems. Multiple photographs show the vehicle from different angles and detail internal components. The text emphasizes practical advantages—ease of maintenance, efficiency, and reliability—designed to appeal to early automotive buyers circa 1910s. This represents period marketing rather than political or social satire. The page is purely promotional material advertising automobile technology to potential customers.