Life, 1911-03-23 · page 34 of 44
Life — March 23, 1911 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes *Life* magazine's promotional "Great Auto Race" contest. The top cartoon shows five famous real figures—identified by context as including King Alfonso (Spain), Joe Cannon (U.S. Congressman), opera singer Caruso, Dr. Parkhurst (reformer), and King George—debating what "booby prize" (consolation prize for worst performer) to award. The joke: they're awarding an elaborate bronze statue (by sculptor Gaudez) to whichever car company generates the *least* advertising in *Life*—a transparent satire on how the contest really functions: it incentivizes companies to buy expensive advertising lines to avoid looking bad. The list shows 67,176 total advertising lines purchased, revealing how the competition drove ad spending rather than actually measuring automotive merit. The satire mocks both *Life's* self-promotion scheme and the magazine's pretension of involving world-famous celebrities in decisions that were purely commercial.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE'S WORLD FAMOUS COMMITTEE, DECIDING BOOBY PRIZE IN GREATEST AUTO RACE OF MODERN TIMES Decision Reached After many painful sessions and much labor, Lire’s committee has suc- ceeded in selecting a suitable Booby Prize for Lire’s Great Auto Race, now drawing to a close. At one time it seemed impossible that the committee should arrive at a unanimous choice. It was due more to the firmness of King Alfonso than anything else that a happy verdict was at last rendered. The great difficulty lay between Joe Cannon and Caruso, who were diamet- tically opposed at every proposal. Dr. Parkhurst did his best to bring about peace between these two insur- gents, and King George also rendered good service. But to King Alfonso’s superb control over everybody is due the decision. The beautiful bronze statue by Gaudez is the result. It will be pre- sented to the contestant in Lire’s Auto Race having the least number of adver- tising lines between October I, 1910, and April 1, 1911. In case of a tie be- tween one or more contestants the prize will be awarded by lot in charge of judges selected by the contestants. There is also a prize for the winner of the race—a solid gold cup. But, good gracious! How this is overshad- owed by the Booby Prize! HOW THE CONTESTANTS STAND TO DATE Columbia.... Maxwell-Briscoe. Hupmobile. Oldsmobile. Haynes... Abbott Detroit. Waverley Electric. Kelly Motor Truck Correja....... National Motor Moon Motor. Oakland . Brewster Club Car. Kelsey Motorette. 940 lines £1,680 lines £1,680 lines - 1,488 lines 11,470 lines +288 lines ol -1,120 lines - 1,092 lines - 1,092 lines - 1,050 lines -1,050 lines :1,050 lines . 896 lines 868 lines 868 lines 868 lines 840 lines 672 lines 658 lines 560 lines 448 lines 420 lines 420 lines 420 lines 336 lines 336 lines 315 lines 224 lines 210 lines 210 lines 5 lines 67,176 lines comicbooks.com