Life, 1911-05-04 · page 10 of 56
Life — May 4, 1911 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Packard Motor Trucks advertisement**, not a cartoon or satire. The page presents a testimonial from Lyon Healy (a Chicago music business), claiming their two Packard trucks replace three horse-drawn wagons while saving $25 daily in piano and organ delivery work. The ad emphasizes efficiency gains from motorization—a key selling point in the early automotive era when trucks were still relatively new. The illustration shows a delivery truck loaded with pianos, with a woman gesturing approvingly. The "Ask the man who owns one" framing was Packard's actual advertising slogan, appealing to practical business owners by highlighting real-world cost savings over traditional horse-transport methods. This reflects the broader early 20th-century transition from animal to mechanical power for commerce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
C4 Packard truck saver mone) in suburban deliverD and other long hauls b9 doing the work o- veveral horse teams E use two Packard trucks in piano delivery and other hauling within a radius of twenty-five miles. Each truck replaces three horse trucks and crews, thereby saving $25 a day ne Hea ] Chicago NNN Packard trucks are used in 118 lines of business. They ( are sold exclusively by Packard dealers, who maintain truck service of the same standard as that extended to owners o ackard cars. comicbooks.com