Life, 1910-05-05 · page 72 of 72
Life — May 5, 1910 — page 72: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement** rather than political satire. It promotes Baker Electric automobiles as luxury vehicles for the wealthy, depicting an elegantly dressed couple and a chauffeur in an electric motorcar. The key pitch targets early-1910s anxieties about **automobile reliability**: the ad emphasizes that Baker Electrics no longer depend heavily on charging stations, can travel far distances daily, and require minimal maintenance—addressing real concerns that made electric cars impractical for many users. The phrase "The Aristocrats of Motordom" reflects the **class positioning**: electric cars were expensive, silent, and clean—marketed as sophisticated alternatives to loud, dirty gasoline vehicles. The image of genteel passengers suggests exclusivity and refinement. The ad's mention of "no expert driver" needed and "no special motoring clothes" suggests electric cars were marketed as easier and safer than contemporary gasoline automobiles, appealing to wealthy urbanites seeking convenience and status rather than mechanical expertise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
in the new Bevel Gear Shaft Drive Baker Electric Runabout. Refinements in construction have brought the radivs of this car to the point where its dependability upon a charging station has ceased to be a limitation. It will mect every reasonable demand of the average motorist. It will carry you as far as you want to go in a day, and as fast as is safe It is the smartest, safest and most dependable motor car at present available for town and suburban service. HE constant increase in the speed and mileage of Electric motor cars has reached its 1910 maximum A Baker Electric requires no expert driver or no special motoring clothes; no expensive overhauling. It will run an entire season without so much as soil nis. is absolutely clean—absolutely dependable. "Write fer Catalog, which describes the many exclusive improvements of the new models; and for booklet “A Retrospect and a Forecast.” which contains a brief history of the Shaft Drive. THE BAKER MOTOR VEHICLE CoO. 33 West 80th St. Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A. MANUFACTURERS OF ELECTRIC MOTOR CARS IN THE WORLD THE OLDEST AND LARGEST comicbooks.com