Life, 1911-07-13 · page 43 of 44
Life — July 13, 1911 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon** but rather a **full-page automobile advertisement** from Life magazine. It promotes the Hupmobile Runabout, a mass-produced car priced at $750 (fully equipped, F.O.B. Detroit). The ad uses language typical of early automotive marketing: it appeals to both masculine practicality and feminine aesthetic taste, emphasizing the car's "smartness," comfort ("leg room"), and smooth operation via "one lever and two pedals." The illustration shows two well-dressed people in the open-air vehicle. The copy highlights technical improvements for 1912: Vanadium steel springs, Timken bearings, and ten-inch brakes. The rhetorical framing—comparing the car to "good breeding" in humans—reflects period attitudes linking consumer products to social status. This represents early-1900s automotive culture when cars were becoming accessible luxuries rather than curiosities, marketed to middle-class families.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Runabout «| Fully Equipped ‘ TE F. O. B. Detroit byt “GUARANTEED ‘FOR LIFE ' FOR 1912--FULL EQUIPMENT INCLUDED a Acar which possesses, in common with the costliest cars of lar s that smartness and perfection of form which, in a man, denotes good b s- A car which avoids the seant proportions which so often characterize cars of medium carrying capacity. A ear which seats its occupants with more luxury and case and “leg room” than any other of its type and class—and which speeds smoothly away at the touch one lever and two pedals. A car which appeals alike to the masculine and feminine members of the family he- cause it so completely satisfies the practical demands of the one and the artistic tastes of the other. mobile for 1912 is sold completely equipped. avle shaft; ten-inch instead of eight-inch brak front wheel 1 Runabout fitted with door amps for the dash and rea that Acerporated improvements which re present $100 more two | than in preceding models, t the Hupmobile pr ted excess ¥ eadily Aportant of these improvements include Vanadium steel springs: ased in the ryt2 cars by res uipment Timken bearings back of dri pinion; rear wheels keyed onto tapered HUPP MOTOR CAR COMPANY, 1231 Jefferson Ave., DETROIT, MICHIGAN THE WILLIAMS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK comicbooks.com