Life, 1912-03-07 · page 49 of 60
Life — March 7, 1912 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an **advertising page** from Life magazine, not a political cartoon. It contains multiple product advertisements interspersed with a brief joke. The single humorous item is a short joke about **Venus** (the Roman goddess of love, not the planet). A student asks a professor of astronomy if anything has been discovered on Venus. The professor, whose "mind had slipped a cog," confuses the goddess with the celestial body and replies "No"—implying that actual photographs of the mythological Venus would be inauthentic or unflattering. The joke plays on the gap between mythology's idealized depiction of Venus as the goddess of beauty and whatever reality might show. The rest of the page advertises **Pantasote leather car tops** (emphasizing durability), **Knox hats** (with coat-of-arms imagery suggesting prestige), and **X-ray automobile top materials guide**. The small illustration at bottom labeled "Love Burns" shows cherubs and appears promotional rather than satirical.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Actual Photographs “Has anything ever been discovered on Venus?” asked the student of as- tronomy. “No,” replied the old professor, whose mind had slipped a cog and transported him into mythological fields ; “not if the pictures of her are authen- tic."—Chicago News. EXAGGERATED ? Yes, of course it’s exaggerated. But many a new car gets that “‘ Prairie- wagon look” after a few weeks of ser- vice. It's a shabby top that gives it that look. Prove it for yourself—look at the cars as they go by and you'll find that it's the Top makes a car look shabby or ship-shape,‘‘stylish”’ or “lumbering.” 2 Genuine Leather stays new and keeps your whole car looking new, When you wash your car turn the hose on the Top—that’s all that’s necessary to keep it clean. Pantasote is waterproof, coldproof, heat- proof, and pretty nearly ‘foolproof—it will atand hurry-up folding and hurry-up handling. Pontacote withents: set. snow, rain sun, wind. Pantacote doesn't: crack, chip, split, soit, % does: keep ita looks, keep out wet, Antacote iast longer than any other top material, Pantasote has been the old Standby Standard ince the auto industry began. THE X-RAY ON AUTOMOBILE TOPS {94 24-page handbook on Top materials with 19 illustrations, Find out about Pantasote—fnd out about other top materials Fi material question and get down under the sur- {aco of things—tet us belp you to understand why Pantasote Outissts.and outlooks every other kind of top covering. THE PANTASOTE COMPANY Ne. 143 Bowling Green Bldg. NEW YORK Lous for the brass label in the peak otyour top, TBidines! Blooms on th ring NMal(Grde we KNOX Agencies in every important city in the world The Knox Hat Manutacturing Co. FACTORY: SALES ROOMS: Brooklyn, N. Y. 452 Fifth Ave., N.Y. LOVE BURNS