Life, 1911-10-19 · page 7 of 48
Life — October 19, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire page** — it's a straightforward advertisement for the 1912 Hudson "33" automobile, published in *Life* magazine. The page promotes the car's new self-starting motor (eliminating hand-crank starting), demountable rims, and other features as major innovations. The text emphasizes reliability, with claims that the starter works even in freezing conditions and that "last job women have to driving a gasoline car is thus removed." The lone illustration shows a side-view diagram of the touring car with these features labeled. This reflects genuine automotive progress in 1912 — the self-starter was indeed a significant safety and convenience innovation, particularly for female drivers who found hand-cranking difficult. The ad is purely commercial marketing, not satirical commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
See the Self-Starting 1912 HUDSON “33” NEXT year all leading automobiles are bound to be equipped with a Self-Starter and will have Demountable Rims. You make a mistake if you buy any car not now equipped with a Self-Starter and Demountable Rims. You get these features on a HUDSON ‘‘33” now. The price complete is less than was charged for last year’s model. We have tested practically every starter thus far pro- duced. The one your HUDSON dealer will show you is the only one Howard E. Coffin and his Board of Engi- neers would approve for use on the HUDSON “33.” It is the most reliable of all we have seen. It starts the motor without cranking. We left a HUDSON “33” in a cold storage room for a week. The temperature was below freezing but the motor instantly responded to the operation of the starter. There is nothing complicated—it has only a dozen parts. It is not heavy. The weight is less than four pounds. In thousands of tests it was 98% efficient. Do you understand what that means? No more cranking. No more lame backs. No more sprained or broken arms due to “‘back-firing.’” A child can start the motor of the HUDSON “ 33” as easily as it can push a button that rings an electric bell. Why not choose a car with such an equipment? Next year all first-rate cars will have self-starters. As usual we are again a year ahead of others. Think of the satis- faction you will have now with this feature of the HUD- SON “33.” You will confidently seat yourself at the wheel and in response to a simple operation, the motor will start. It will attract the admiration and envy of every automobile owner whose car must be started, in the old way, by cranking. The last objection women have to driving a gasoline car is thus removed. Demountable Rims Also Necessary About the hardest, most disagreeable work about an automobile, and it usually comes in the most incon- venient places, is changing tires. Not so when you have Demountable Rims. The extra inflated tire can be sub- stituted in a few minutes for a flat tire. There is no labor—nothing is difficult. There is no delay. No other type of tire rim will be acceptable on any dependable car in the future. Why accept a car that hasn’t this equipment now? It makes your auto- mobiling so much more satisfactory. It will make your car so much more salable if ever you wish to dispose of it. Costs Us $152 More Costs You Less Instead of reducing manufacturing costs, we have added $152 for better materials and finer workmanship. Yet the 1912 car sells for Jess than did the 711 of simi- lar model and equipment. Thousands paid $1500 for the 1911 HUDSON with fore-doors, top, magneto and Prest-O-Lite tank. Almost as many more had their cars equipped with 34 x 4-inch tires, with Demountable Rims and glass windshield. This brought the price up to $1630. The character of the equipment is much superior to and more luxurious than that used last year. Lamps cost us a great deal more. Leather for upholstering this year costs $14.11 more per car. One set of bearings amounts to $7.35 more than did the bearings used for the same purpose last year. It takes three days longer to paint the bodies. Labor charges per car exceed last year by $35.65. We built the best car we could then at the price. But we have progressed. Our men have greater skill. Many new refinements have been de- veloped. They all make for a better car—for longer ser- vice—for completeness. They cost us more, but with all included, the car to you is less than was the 1911 model with fore-door and similar equipment. Don’t you think it wiser to buy a car in which quality advancement has been made rather than to choose an automobile that has not been increased in value? Think also of the disadvantage of owning a car designed after the practices of three years ago. Engineers have ad- vanced far. The ideals of that day are practically obso- lete now. The HUDSON “ 33” is the one advanced car of the past three years, See the Triangle on the Radiator HUDSON MOTOR CAR COMPANY, Models are Touring Car, Torpedo, Roads! equipment includes Disco Self-Stai 5.7173 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, Mich. in el tire Prest-O-Lite tank, tools and tool box, tire repair outfit, etc. comicbooks.com