Life, 1910-10-06 · page 39 of 60
Life — October 6, 1910 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **shoe advertisement**, not political satire. The illustration shows King Xerxes of Persia examining his massive army before his defeat by the Greeks at Salamis—a historical reference used as a moral lesson. The ad's argument: Xerxes failed because he relied on mere numbers rather than proper organization and care for his troops' basic needs. The key phrase, attributed to Kipling, emphasizes that soldiers' quality depends on their feet: "a soldier on the march is no better than his feet." This premise launches the **Goodyear Welt shoe pitch**: superior shoe manufacturing through mechanized efficiency (the "Welt System") makes quality footwear affordable to ordinary people, not just the wealthy. The ad positions well-made shoes as essential to both military success and democratic access to comfort. The satire is gentle—using ancient history to make a mundane product seem philosophically important.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sate aD 2. A ENA ney ERXES, King of the Persians, wept when he looked over his army of a million soldiers and thought that in a hundred years not one of them would be alive. Xerxes gathered the largest army the world had ever known to subjugate the Greeks, but after his ships had been destroyed at Salamis it beat a demoralized retreat. He depended upon mere numbers. His badly organized, ill-fed and ill-shod troops were little better than a mob. Success in war as in industry depends upon close attention to commonplace details. A general cannot win victories unless condition of his men. o»meone looks after the discipline and physical There is sense as weil as humor in the remark attributed by Kipling to Mulvaney: ‘‘Remimber, me son, a soldier on the marrch is no better than his feet.” The perfect shoe to-day is made by the GOODYEAR WELT SYSTEM of shoe machinery. It is the fruit of the American genius for invention and organized efficiency. Shoe manufacturers lease their machines on the royalty basis, which, through the payment of a trifling sum on each shoe made, saves them from the necessity of tying up their capital in their plant and leaves them free to devote all their time and thought to improving the quality of their shoes and making them economically. The United Shoe Machinery Company builds the machines, looks after them and keeps them in tip- top condition ail the time. the ts of a series of The GOODYEAR System duplic: on machines process of sewing shocs by hand. It con: more than fifty costly and intricate machines, through which every shoe must pass in making. The best quality of GOODYEAR WELT shoe is as comfortable, durable and stylish as the most expensive shoes sewed by hand. Through the general use of the royalty system, good shoes have been brought within reach of the people and those of modest means can now enjoy a comfort which only a little while ago belonged exclusively to wealth and fashion, Ask the shoe-salesman if the shoes he offers you are GOODYEAR WELTS—and remember that no matter where they are sold, or under what name, every really good Welt shoe for man, woman or child is a The United Shoe Machinery Co., Boston, Mass., has prepared an alphabetical list of all Goodyear Welt shoes sold under a special name or trade-mark. It will be mailed on request, without charge, and with it a book that describes the ‘Goodyear Welt’? process in detail and pictures the marvelous machines employed.