Life, 1912-03-21 · page 42 of 52
Life — March 21, 1912 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **two distinct pieces**: a car advertisement and a satirical story. **The White Self-Starting Six Advertisement** promotes a Cleveland automobile emphasizing its innovative features—particularly electric starting and left-hand drive, eliminating the need to crank-start the car from the street. This was cutting-edge technology for the era. **The Satirical Story** (right column) follows a character named Gillson encountering two absurd figures: a man with a "patent stomach" enabling continuous eating, and a flying man with a card. The joke satirizes turn-of-the-century medical and technological hubris—the breathless enthusiasm for new inventions solving human problems through mechanical means. The flying man represents the comedic extreme of this trend. The story mocks the era's faith that technology could fundamentally remake human capabilities and limitations. The humor relies on the contrast between Gillson's excitement over minor automotive advances and these invented "improvements" to the human body itself—exposing the period's sometimes naive optimism about progress.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHITE Self-Starting SIX HE White Self-Starting Six-Cylinder Sixty presents a striking cor -rast to the conventional types of six-cylinder motor Cars. This car has been produced to meet the heretofore un- filled demand fora powerful six-cylinder car that is both economical inoperation and simple in construction and control, The White Six embodies all of the principles of motor car design which The White Company has so thoroughly developed, and which have made White Cars world- famous fez -conomy, dura- bility, and simplicity of operation and construction. Absolutely the latest in every detail of body design, with lines unbrok ken by hinges and handles, the White Six is the only car to incorporate the entirely new but extremely conven- ient combination of the left-hand drive with a thoroughly practical and efficient electric starting and lighting system, making it possible, for the first time in motor car construction to reach the driving scat, start and light the car without it the necessity of stepping into into the street, CLEVELAND Manufacturers of Gasoline Motor Cars, Trucks and Taxicabs could, without the slightest inconve- nience. He threw the peels into baskets on the side of the street, aiming straight with the facility of a pestal clerk on a fast mail train, “Excuse me,” said Gillson to the man. “But what have you had done to you?” The man didn’t want to stop long enough to answer, but he was really polite, and so he took the trouble to re- ply between rapid mouthfuls. reat thing, old fellow,” he said. “You see, I have had a new patent stomach put in. Enables me to eat con- tinuously, and so, as | am enormously fond of bananas, I just eat them all the continued his interesting occupation, while Gillson, full of joy over his own new possession, ran along the pavement with the rapidity of a locomotive. All that happened was an increased buzzing in his chest. Suddenly he was confronted by a very singular object. This object was in mid- air and sailing along horizontally with- out the slightest inconvenience. Gillson soon saw that it was a man. He hailed him, “What are you doing?” he asked the man, “Ob! just out for a little fly,” replied + the man. “ How do you manage it?” The man stooped down and handed him a card. Get your next Suit of 'a Merchant Tailor and‘know the *satisfaction |of having‘clothes fitted to you in the: making. | “and enjoy the exclusiveness of patterns never never | | “seen in ready- | | “made clothing: | || time, It's really quite cheap, too, as I have a yearly contract with the Cuban Steamship Compeny and 1 keep a large hand. If you have to g ch at any time T should cne like mine. Of course there are any mumber on the market, but this is sim- ply great. Never sont; always ready for business. [hate even to sleep at night. He didn’t stop to say any more, but co | fis ‘Ask a Merchant om Tarlor Jd R Keim & Co 4 Shackamaxon Mills, Philadelphye / comicbooks.com