Life, 1912-01-04 · page 88 of 108
Life — January 4, 1912 — page 88: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not a political cartoon but rather a **automobile advertisement** from Life magazine. It promotes the Maxwell Mercury touring car, manufactured by Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company in New York. The page features a photograph of the vehicle with a driver, positioned in an idealized outdoor setting with trees and city buildings visible in the background. The advertisement emphasizes the car's reliability and comfort features—spacious seating, luggage capacity, and stylish design. The key sales pitch centers on the Maxwell's victory in the Glidden Tour, a famous automotive endurance race. The text claims it was the only "special touring" car among 64 competitors (some costing up to $6,000) to complete the grueling route with a perfect score. The advertisement further boasts that 47,000 Maxwells were in use, with 91 percent of those manufactured in 1905 still in service seven years later—positioning reliability as the brand's primary competitive advantage. This reflects early-1900s automobile marketing, targeting affluent consumers concerned with both vehicle performance and social status.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE speedy Maxwell Mercury, is an ideal car for touring: Big, roomy. luggage compartment, | wide ‘com- fortable tilted seats; plenty of legroom, proof against fatigue; smart, ‘stylish and attractive —a car of which anyone'will be proud. The sweeping Maxwell victory in .the Glidden Tour affords convincing proof of Maxwell Reliability. — It ‘was the ‘only Special” Touring * Tours ¢ $950 enger™ ; “Messenger” Roadster $625. Free monthly inspection of all our cars for twelve months. team of 64 contesting cars costing as muchas $6000 to come through the hardest Glidden tour in history with an absolutely perfect score—always on time —100 per cent efficiency always. These qualities have made the Maxwell _famous—47,000 Maxwells in use—with an unapproached record of 91 per cent of those made in 1905 yet in service in the seventh: year of their continuous use. Send for the intensely interesting story of the Glidden Tour. It's thrilling and fascinating. { Just “write—“ Mail Books” on « postal ‘and send to us. Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company, 17 West 6ist Street, New York ‘ston of UNITED STATES MOTOR COMPANY ae Maxwell—American Tq