Life, 1910-09-22 · page 4 of 40
Life — September 22, 1910 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily an advertisement addressed to automobile manufacturers, not a political cartoon. **Content:** LIFE magazine announced a competition for automotive advertisers running from October 1, 1910 to April 1, 1911. The advertiser purchasing the most advertising lines would receive a solid gold cup, with weekly standings published in LIFE's "score board." **The Satire:** The small cartoon figure at bottom appears to be LIFE's mascot, depicted in a competitive pose—likely representing the magazine itself as referee of this advertising "race." The piece humorously frames commercial advertising competition as if it were an exciting automotive sport, appealing to both advertisers' competitive instincts and readers' interest in automobiles. **Context:** This reflects early 1900s automotive industry enthusiasm and LIFE's role as a prestigious venue for luxury goods advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To Automobile Advertisers In LIFE’S first issue in October, will begin one of the most exciting races ever held in the history of the auto world. It will be an honest race, with no favorites, and we invite the attention of everybody to its main features. To the Automobile advertiser using the greatest num- ber of advertising lines in this paper from Oct. 1, 1910, to April 1, 1911, LIFE will present a Solid Gold Cup. A picture of this cup will be reproduced in an early issue of LIFE. Beginning with the first issue in October, the position of all the contestants will be shown, from week to week, on this page, in LIFE’S score board. Everybody who is anybogly is interested in the sport of automobiling. This contest, therefore, will appeal to advertiser and reader alike. Gentlemen, get ready! Tighten up your con- necting rods, go over your chassis carefully, try out your cylinders, test your ignition and grind your valves. Watch for the Victor. ee gr + comicbooks.com