Life, 1912-03-21 · page 33 of 52
Life — March 21, 1912 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satire** — it's a straightforward automobile advertisement from *Life* magazine (likely early 1900s based on the vehicle style and pricing). The ad promotes the Rambler Cross Country automobile ($1650) manufactured by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The central marketing claim is a **10,000-mile guarantee**, which the ad emphasizes through detailed descriptions of hypothetical cross-country driving routes: New York to Chicago to California, down the coast, through deserts to El Paso, to New Orleans, and back. The ad stresses the company's reliability by noting the car has been tested extensively and performs well "everywhere this Rambler has gone" — across all U.S. states, Canadian provinces, Mexico, Australia, South America, Europe, and the Orient. The detailed equipment list (Bosch ignition, headlights, tools, folding canopy, etc.) was standard advertising practice for early automobiles, appealing to buyers concerned about durability and breakdown support for cross-country travel.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Rambler Cross Country Has gaa Good The Rambler Cress Country—$1650 We Guarantee Every Rambler for Ten Thousand Miles Subject to the conditions of our signed guarantee which we will give with each car Ten thousand miles! Think what it means! Step into the Rambler in New York and journey across four states to Chicago. Take your bearings and strike due west across seven states to the Golden Gate. Run down the Coast to Los An- geles. Turn back over the moun- tains and on through eight hundred miles of desert to El Paso. Then on to New Orleans and back, by way of Atlanta, through eight states to the city of New York. Strike out again cross country for Chicago. Then drive your car straightway across the American continent to San Francisco. Yet you —Bosch duplex ignition. have not exhausted the ten thousand mile Rambler guarantee backed by a company of known stability. We give this guarantee to prove to you our unbounded confidence in every single part that goes into every Rambler car. The first Rambler Cross Country that left the factory made a three thousand mile test trip through nine states, over the mountains of Penn- sylvania to New York, Albany, Bos- ton and back to the factory. Since then the fame of the Cross Country has spread, and its service has extended to every state in the Union, to every province of Canada, to Mex- ico, to Australia, South America, Europe and the Orient. Fine large, black and nickel headlights with gas tank. Everywhere this Rambler has gone its performance has strengthened our confidence in its ability to fulfill this guarantee. That is why we do not hesitate to give it. Eleven years of success in motor car building has so established the stability of this company in manufac- turing and financial resources as to make definitely known the responsi- bility back of this guarantee. Such a car with this guarantee, backed by such a company whose liberal policy is so widely known, are the reasons why you should have a Rambler. A postal card will bring you a catalog at once. Black and nickel side and tail oil lamps; large tool box; tool roll with complete tool outfit. Roomy, folding robe rail; loot rest, jack, pump and tire kit. Top with envelope, $80—wind shield, $35— demountable wheel, less tire, with brackets and tools, $30—gas operated self-starter, $50. The Thomas B. Jeffery Company Main Office and Factory, Kenosha, Wisconsin Branches: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco comicbooks.com