Life, 1911-07-27 · page 6 of 40
Life — July 27, 1911 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **straightforward advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The Packard Motor Car Company advertises their commercial trucks through Life magazine. The ad emphasizes practical reliability: a Packard truck in Pittsburgh has operated 304 days yearly for 15 months without missing trips on hilly terrain, replacing three horse teams. The illustration shows a loaded delivery truck navigating an urban street. The key sales pitch is the testimonial approach: "Ask the man who owns one." The ad notes that 40% of Packard truck sales are repeat purchases from satisfied customers, and that these trucks operate in 126 trade lines across 174 cities. This reflects early automotive marketing strategy—demonstrating real-world utility to convince businesses that motor trucks were reliable replacements for horse-drawn transport.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MOTOR TRUCKS HIS truck has never missed a trip in the 15 months it has been in use on the hilly streets of Pittsburgh. It is on the job every day, 304 working days to the year. It replaces three horse teams. After Arbuckles & Company had used this truck ten months and knew exactly what it would do they bought another just like it. Forty per cent of the sales of Packard Trucks are orders from previous purchasers for additional trucks c4srk the man who owns one 3 Packard Trucks are used in 126 2, lines of trade and in 174 cities ard Motor Car Company Detroit comicbookMeom