Life, 1909-11-18 · page 27 of 36
Life — November 18, 1909 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward automobile advertisement from Life magazine's advertising section (page 719). The F.B. Stearns Company, based in Cleveland, Ohio, marketed their cars as premium vehicles emphasizing durability and craftsmanship. The ad targets affluent buyers by claiming Stearns cars never wear out and undergo rigorous testing (including being loaded with half a ton of wet sand). Key selling points include: - **Durability over novelty**: Unlike competitors releasing yearly models, Stearns maintains an experimental department costing $40,000 annually, adding improvements continuously rather than in staged model years - **Quality materials**: Parts cost three times more to manufacture than competitors' lesser parts - **Prestige appeal**: Marketed as the choice of "post-graduate motorists" who keep their cars indefinitely The two illustrated models show a popular open-air chassis and a limousine body, appealing to wealthy urban and suburban buyers circa 1910s-1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Sturdiest Car — The Stearns A Popular Model — 30-69 H. P. Chassis with Toy Tonneau Body — either shaft or side chain drive No one knows how long a Stearns will last, for no Stearns has ever worn out. Each car is given a rigorous road test for endurance. It is tested out in the country where every resistance that any car will ever encounter is met. It is tested out with a dead weight of half a ton of wet sand in the tonneau. We spend extravagantly in the making, where the expenditure adds to the strength. Some parts cost us three times to make what others pay for lesser parts. That's why the Stearns costs more than common cars. It’s good to have this extra strength; the Stearns is the safest car that’s made. The One Really Up-to-Date Car The Stearns is always the latest thing in motor car construc- tion. Yet we get out no new yearly models But we maintain an ex- periment department that costs $40,000 a year. When we perfect a real improve- ment we add it at once to the car. So, no matter when you buy a Stearns, you have the very latest advantages that 30-60 H. P. Chassis with Limousine Body a motor car can offer. The Choice of “Post-Graduate” Motorists Most of our owners have owned other , nally come to the Stearns because, as s te ed of buying new cars every year. People are buying the Stearns to keep and to use "til they wear it out. The Richest Looking Car We have carried our quality through to the lines — the finish and the upholstering. Allof this work is done in our own factory. Our roadsters and touring cars are low and rakish — our limousines the handsomest made. Clip out the memo asa reminder to write for catalog. A Reminder The F. B. Stearns Co., (Menter A LAM) Cleveland, Obio Please mail me Catalog No. 63. The F. B. Stearns Co., Cleveland, 0. Wyckoff, Church &Partridge Eastern Distributors 1743 Broadway, New York City comicbooks.com