Life, 1910-11-24 · page 42 of 48
Life — November 24, 1910 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page documents Life magazine's satirical "Great Auto Cup Race"—a competition tracking which automobile manufacturers purchased the most advertising space in Life between October 1910 and April 1911. **The Satire:** Life mocks both the manufacturers' vanity and readers' obsession with the competition. The magazine humorously presents this advertising contest as a genuine sporting event, complete with a trophy and breathless coverage. **Key Point:** The quoted automobile executive admits the real value isn't winning—it's the *free publicity* from Life's competitive reporting. By tracking which car company "leads," Life guarantees readers will scrutinize each issue, making the advertisement itself newsworthy. **Social Context:** This reflects the early automobile industry's explosive growth and manufacturers' desperate competition for market share. The satirical framing exposes how advertising and editorial content blur together—Life benefits from both the ads and reader engagement the "race" generates. The cartoons show competing vehicles representing manufacturers like Packard, Pierce Arrow, and Baker Electric, ranked by advertising lines purchased.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Car Coming!” How the Contestants Stand in LIFE’S Great Auto Cup Race: = eS Packard, 1680 lines Pierce Arrow, 1260 lines Baker Electric, £46 lines Peerless, 634 lines mre 448 Lines Kelly Motor Truck Co., Ande $0 Chalmers, 43: lines Columbia, 420." Cunningham, 420 Anderson, 420lines Bat Cocreja, 224 lines Marinon, 224 ‘* Prem:er, 224 Rauc! & Electric, 448 ** Waverley Electric, 448 White, 840 GNsas Eee Brewster, 210 lines Club Car, 210 ** Res, 224 Hudsot’ 420 Stevens-Duryea, 224 Hupmobile 420 Maxwell Briscoe 420 Stoddard Dayton, 420 ** Gas and Glory Life furnishes the gas, and you have the glory. What I like about this auto race of Life,” said a prom- inent automobilist y>sterday, “is the fact that there is no expense a*:ached to it. Even the gas is furnished by Life. So far as th vertising is concerned, that is not expense— it’s business. Another said: am one of the contestants in the Life race, and I meet say it's a nerve racking contest. It doesn't macter so much where you are on the list, everybody is talking about you. I hope to win, but even if I don’t I have the satisfaction of knowing that everybody has been watch- ing me for six months. There is glory eno:gi for all.” The excitement all over the country still continues. As the bulletins are issued, the crowds in front of automo- bile centers cheer and groan, but up to the present moment there have been no casualties. The American people may be relied upon to keep their heads. In the meantime, every issue of Life, showing the au- tomobile in the lead, is awaited with feverish interest. This contest is open to every automobile manufacturer, the prize to be awarded to the one who has the greatest total number of auto- mobile lines of advertising in Life ‘rom October I, 1910, to April 1, 1911. The trophy is a solid gold cup, 20 carat, 8 inches high, and can be seen at any time upon inquiry at Life's office. DEL INT Fine - ! Holland | il il comicbooks.com