Life, 1910-08-11 · page 39 of 40
Life — August 11, 1910 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily **advertising, not satire**—a full-page promotional piece for Firestone's quick-detachable automobile rims, circa early 1910s. The illustrated vignettes on the left show the practical advantage: drivers could swap out damaged tires without laboriously removing the entire rim, a genuine innovation for the era when tire failures were frequent and tire-changes were genuinely difficult, time-consuming work. The lengthy list of car manufacturers endorsing the product reflects the fragmented early auto industry—dozens of now-forgotten marques (Studebaker, Packard, and Mercer were among the few that survived). The advertisement leverages these endorsements as credibility markers. The humor is implicit rather than satirical: the exaggerated relief depicted in the illustrations ("resume your journey without loss of time, annoying exertion or even tire pumping") reflects genuine frustrations of early motoring. Modern readers miss that this solved a real, constant problem before reliable pneumatic tires existed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
; ‘LIFE: THE EQUIPMENT of AMERICA’S BEST CARS The following automobile manufacturers permit us to_announce that they are using Firestone Quick—Detachable DEMOUNTABLE RIMS To Carry Your Spare Tirés Inflated, Ready for Instant Use The Acme Motor Car Co. Packard Motor Car Co. American Locomotive Co. Moon Motor Car Co. The Bartholomew Co. Mora Company. The Berkshire Car Co. National Motor Vehicle Co. B. C. K. Motor Car Co. Owen Motor Car Co. Chadwick Engineering Works Paine & pinee Mfg. Co. Chalmers Motor Co. eS Ope 8. Co. - Premier Motor Mfg. Co. hack up whee! and remove rim Coates-Goshen Mfg. Co. Pullman Motor Car Co. und damaged trem Cole Motor Car Co. Selden Motor Vehicle Co. Corbin Motor Vehicle Corp. Simplex Motor Car Co. Croxton-Keeton Motor Co. The Speedwell Motor Car Co. Fal Motor Co. Springfield Motor Car Co. Inter-State Automobile Co. Staver Carriage Co. Marion Motor Car Co. Studebaker Automobile Co. Matheson Automobile Co. The Stuyvesant Motor Car Co. Mercer Automobile Co. E. R. Thomas Motor Co. Moline Automobile Co. Velie Motor Vehicle Co. Substit i izi sicaiiideeaaman ort med and most of the other progressive manufacturers, realizing the great advantages of this equipment, are large users of the up-to-date Firestone rims. You need not wait for your new car before enjoying the advantages of Firestone Quick-Detachable Demountable Rims. You can have them equipped to your present car right now, as we explain a little further on. WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE THEM They equip you to make quick tire-changes right on the spot, without And resume your journey without . loss of tin hard work or even pumping-up. You merely substitute 1088 of tim, annoying exertion el an already inflated tire for the injured one, rim and all, and resume er even tire pumping. your trip. The number of tire-changes you can make per trip is not peaticted te the number of spare inflated tires you carry. Additional changes can be made without removing rim fom wheel, .-ing only the quick detachable rims in the regular way, without reference to the demountable no lugs or bolts of a id to bother with in the up-to-date Firestone Rims. It's inflated tire on the road. and casy to change and repair the damaged tire on the spare rim when you get ba No matter where you live, you can have the Firestone Quick-Detachable Rims put on your present car right now. They cost from $65 to $90 per complete set applied to your car, according to size of tire used. You will save this amount in tire bills alone in a very short time. as they remove all temptation to run your injured tires for even a short distance and so ruin them. Think of the saving in tire delay, tire work and tire expense. Send the attached coupon and we will give you full information and name of your nearest demonstrating dealer. THE FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO. “(America’s largest exclusive tire makers” AKRON, OHIO, and all principal cities