Life, 1912-03-21 · page 51 of 52
Life — March 21, 1912 — page 51: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not satire or political content. It promotes the Hupp-Yeats electric automobile, manufactured by R-C-H Corporation in Detroit. The ad argues that the Hupp-Yeats has become the market leader by introducing superior design—specifically a lower-slung, safer body style—that competitors have rushed to imitate. The opening line ("imitation is the sincerest flattery") frames this copying as validation of the car's excellence. The illustration shows well-dressed passengers entering the vehicle, emphasizing it as a fashionable, safe choice for "twentieth century needs." The ad highlights technical features: Hycap Exides batteries, Goodyear tires, and patented design elements. This reflects the early 1900s electric car market, when such vehicles competed seriously with gasoline automobiles. No political figures or satirical figures are present—this is straightforward commercial messaging in *Life* magazine's advertising pages.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
F imitation is the sincerest flattery, the Hupp-Yeats is the best praised electric car in America. ‘All who are interested in the advertising of electric pleasure vehicles recognize this fact. Take any well-known publication of but a short twelvemonth ago; look at the illustrations of electric cars displayed in it. You'll see an absolute uniformity of high-hung bodies, with their attendant awkwardness of construction and style. Then came the Hupp-Yeats, a town-car designed and built for twentieth century needs, from which all antiquated construction ideas have been discarded. Its safe, graceful, low-hung construction made an instant appeal to the public. Exceptionally easy to enter or leave, it had none of the dangerous tendency to skid or swerve which is so pro- nounced a feature of the old-fashioned high-body electrics. The Hupp-Yeats, then, became immediately the car of fashion. Other makers who came to criticize saw the trend of public opinion, and remained to copy. So today, electric car-makers everywhere are adopting, so far as possible, the construction features made famous by the Hupp-Yeats. A comparison of their output today with that of a year ago will readily demonstrate this. But it is well to remember that many of the best features of this design are exclusive to the Hupp-Yeats and are protected by letters-patent, Six models —$5000 to $1750 Regular equipment includes Hycap Exides Battery and Goodyear long-distance No-Rim-Cut Tires; Motz Cushion Tires at additional cost. Write for booklet : R-C-H CORPORATION, 110 Lycaste St., Detroit, Michigan BRANCHES: Boston, 563 Boylston St.; Buffalo, 1225 Main St.; Cleveland, 2122 Euclid Ave.; Chicago, 2021 Michigan Av Denver, 1520 Broadway; Detroit, Woodward and Warren Aves.; Kansas City, 3501 Main St.; Los Angeles, 1242 So. Flot Minneapolis, 1206 Hennepin Ave.; New York, 1989 Broadway; Philadelphia, 330 No. Broad St.; Atlanta, 548 Peachtree St. THE WILLIAMS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK comicbooks.com