Life, 1910-10-13 · page 38 of 44
Life — October 13, 1910 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the competition among automobile manufacturers for advertising space in *Life* magazine. Rather than competing on the road, car companies compete for editorial prominence—measured in "lines" of advertising published between October 1910 and April 1911. The "race" is a humorous inversion: instead of speed or innovation, success means spending the most on ads. The trophy—a solid gold cup—goes to whichever auto maker purchases the most advertising. Companies like Franklin, Hudson, and Oldsmobile lead with 420 lines each, while Correja trails at 112 lines. The satire mocks both automotive industry marketing excess and *Life* magazine's own mercenary dependence on advertising revenue. By framing ad spending as competitive sport, the page wryly suggests that corporate advertising budgets—not engineering or customer preference—determine automotive "winners."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: LIFE’S GREAT AUTO RACE NOW ON HOW THE CONTESTANTS STAND TO DATE Those having same number of lines are in alphabetical order.) Franklin - - : - - 420 lines Thomas Flyer - - - - - - 420 lines Hudson - - - - - = + 420 lines White - - - - - - - - 420 lines Locomobile - - - - + 420 lines Haynes - - + + = 224 lines Oldsmobile - - - - 420 lines Marmon - - 224 lines Packard - - - - 420 lines Rauch & Lang 2 ¢ - - 224 lines Pierce-Arrow - - 420 lines Reo - - - - 224 lines Rambler - - ee - 420 lines Club Car - - 210 lines Stearns - - - - 420 lines Correja - - - 112 lines This cup is now on exhibit and can be seen by any one interested upon inquiry at Contest open to every LIFE office. | Manufacturer of Automobiles. This is a reproduction (exact size) of the Solid Gold Cup to be presented to the automobile adver- tiser having the greatest number of lines of advertising in LIFE from October Ist, 1910, to April Ist, 1911. oi