Life, 1911-09-14 · page 2 of 46
Life — September 14, 1911 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Warner Auto-Meter advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The page promotes speedometers as markers of automobile quality and manufacturer integrity. The ad's argument: manufacturers who spend extra money on Warner speedometers demonstrate commitment to quality. The text criticizes cheap speed indicators as unreliable, contrasting them with Warner's superior engineering. It appeals to consumer desire for "hidden quality"—excellence in unseen parts reflecting overall craftsmanship. The ad suggests dealers increasingly stock Warner meters because educated buyers now demand them, making inferior alternatives harder to sell. The speedometer becomes visual proof of quality to consumers and dealers alike. The humor is implicit: a mere gauge becomes emblematic of automotive trustworthiness—a sales pitch elevating a functional instrument into a status symbol of manufacturer integrity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
When an automobile aanuactiver: spends “$25, 000 to $100,000 extra money for Warner Auto-Meters as regular equipment, he confirms his claims of Highest Quality throughout his car. T ONE-THIRD the cost of the Warner Auto-Meter his car could be equipped with some other Speed Indicator. Two-thirds could be saved on this item alone. That saving with one maker who will use the Warner as regular equipment, would amount next year to $54.000. equipped with A Speed Indicator.” to give you a Warner Auto-Meter Just because he knows—as well-posted men know—that the Warner is a real Speed Indicator—sensitive, accurate, reliable and so durable that it will give a correct indication of speed and ce as long as the car itself endures, A maker who will go to this extra expense to give the choicest and best in a Speed Indicator, will do the same in the hidden parts. You may be sure of that. The Warner Auto-Meter is the outward evidence of inward quality in an automobile. Automobiles are much the same as far as mere outward ap- pearance goes. The parts which make one better than another are out of sight under the hood, beneath the floor or concealed by a covering of paint and varnish. Yet there are many places throughout the car where the right thing will cost three or four times as much as the wrong. On some of those parts you never may know which grade the maker uses. But the Warner Auto-Meter tells you his policy. And men are the same clear through. When a maker pays the price to give you the Warner, which he knows to be best, in a Speed Indicator, he will give you the best in other parts. This is sound logic. Don't misunderstand us. This may not be a uni- versal condition. It is only right and just to admit what may be true—that a maker may skimp on the Speed Indicator yet not skimp any where else. The only cheapening in the entire car may be this All that could be saved, yet the maker could say, But he pays as much again, and as much again more, “This car is single feature. A cheap Speed Indicator is not an infallible sign of other inferiority. But the maker who gives you the best in hidden parts, and the second or third best in the visible parts, is doing himself a, injustice. And such a maker is on dangerous ground if he makes ¢ claim that he uses the choicest and best throughout, when the Speed Indicator—the most looked-at thing on the car—is known to be cheap, inferior and unreliable. Thousands are now following our suggestion and Looking for the Speed Indicator. If a car has a Warner on the dash, those on the street or ia other automobiles unhesitatingly decide that it is a good car. Those who are e about to buy look for the Speed Indicator oa showroom. If it is a Warner, the sales s For to the buyer the Warner is an outward and visible Broo of a quality and perfection in the car itself, which must otherwise be taken on trust. It is becoming difficult for dealers to even give away inferior Speed Indicators. Now that the buying public has been educated to know hor much it means in comfort, satisfaction and freedom from troubk and annoyance to have a Warner Auto-Meter on the car, they will no longer take inferior Speed Indicators as a gift, but gladly pay the difference for enduring Warner sensitiveness and sterling QUALITY. WARNER “The Aristocrat of Speed Indicators” HE Warner can be secured through reputable Automobile Dealers in any city or town in the United States. convenience of these dealers and their customers. vited for Warner literature. Free to Automo! keeping account of tires, gasoline, oil, repairs, etc. PATE, Booklet Dept., name and model of your car. Address S. E. Warner Instrument Co., Beloit, Wis. Warner branches are maintained in all the principal cities for the Inquiry to Beloit or at our branches is in- A vest-pocket ‘Automobile Expense bilists Record” tab Indexed for conveniently Sent FREE for WARNER INSTRUMENT COMPANY Main Offices and Factory, - - Branch Houses M Atlanta Denver Boston Buffalo 1187 Wheeler Avenue, Beloit, Wis. Model M2, Price $125 Piusburg Cer Mal rom $501 816 See cae | Portland, Ore. Seattle St. Louie shou c sug comicbooks Mord