Life, 1909-06-03 · page 35 of 56
Life — June 3, 1909 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**, but rather a **straightforward advertisement** for the Detroit Electric automobile, published in *Life* magazine (likely early 1900s). The page promotes the Detroit Electric as superior to competing electric vehicles, emphasizing its 1,060-mile Detroit-to-Atlantic City trip without mechanical failure. The advertisement highlights luxury features (silver trim, deep cushions, front-opening doors, curved windows) and technical improvements (larger battery, five forward speeds, centered motor). The photograph shows a well-dressed woman entering the vehicle, appealing to affluent consumers—electric cars were marketed as clean, quiet, and prestigious alternatives to gasoline vehicles. **Historical context**: This predates the mass-market dominance of gasoline cars. Electric vehicles were actually popular among the wealthy before Henry Ford's assembly line and cheap gasoline made internal combustion engines standard.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
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