Life, 1912-03-28 · page 37 of 50
Life — March 28, 1912 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising and literary promotion** rather than political satire. The left side advertises John Ames Mitchell's book *Pandora's Box* with an illustration showing a domestic interior scene—likely depicting a story moment rather than satire. The right side is a **Texaco Motor Oil advertisement** addressing early 1900s automotive concerns: carbon buildup in engine cylinders causing performance problems. The ad uses technical language to convince skeptical car owners that Texaco's product prevents these issues through superior lubrication properties. The small embedded anecdote (credited to *Los Angeles Times*) about artist John Sloan visiting a mansion is a **gentle joke about pretension**: when shown an elaborate new country house, Sloan suggests covering its showy facade with Virginia creeper vines—implying the architecture is so bad it should be hidden. This plays on artistic taste versus gaudy wealth, typical of *Life* magazine's upper-class satirical humor. The page reflects early automotive advertising targeting affluent readers concerned with machinery performance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ahead; it is a never-failing sign that you keep a good balance in bank, or if you do not wish it generally known that you are doing a good business, do not deposit your moncy until about the time you expeet your check will be in, A strict observance of the foregoing rules will make your accounts desirable for any bank and will make you a gen- cral favorite with all the bank officers. Art and Architecture John Sloan, the well-known artist of New York, takes the same intelligent in- terest in architecture as in painting. A New York architect, aware of Mr. Sloan's excellent taste, took him in his OU, the car owner, need no longer number nder troubles among your motor cares. Pitted cylinder walls, weak compression, poor combustion, faulty ignition, can almost invariably be traced to an inferior cylinder oil. The perfect cylinder oil contains no carbon impurities. Its lubricating qualities have not been impaired in order to eliminate carbon. It shows a zero cold test. Texaco Motor Oil meets these requirements. The most careful working tests have shown none of the troublesome carbon deposits so common with motor oils. It burns absolutely clean. It has sufficient body to lubri- cate perfectly. Cylinders never “dry out,” never become scarred or pitted. It has a cold test of zero and will flow freely at that temperature. These are strong statements. You may feel skeptical. The best proof of their truth is in the use of the oil itself. Try a can. Sold in 1 and § gallon cans at garages and supply shops. For instructive booklet, ‘About Motor Lubrication,” address Dept. B, 2 West St., N.Y. City. THE TEXAS COMPANY DIVISION OFFICES Houston St. Louis Atlanta New York Boston Dallas New Orleans Norfolk: Philadelphia Chicago It is a literary delight and holds the reader spellbound throughout its many pages. —Brooklyn Citizen. — = —— motor car to sce a huge and costly coun- By JOHN AMES MITCHELL | try house that he had erected for a mil- a 7 lionaire on a bluff overlooking the Hud- luthor of “Amos Judd,” “The Pines of Lory,” ete, a tielarennicee osawtENiae. Slesa Editor of Life. on the terrace of the new property, he looked up at the mansion’s showy facade and said thoughtfully : “Stupendous! But I haven't decided yet what kind ‘of creeper to have in FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY front.” Publishers New York “The Virginia creeper,” said Mr. Sloan, “ would cover it up quickest.” —Los Angeles Times. Four illustrations by the author, $1.30 net: prepaid $1.42 “THE HIGH SPEED cLUTcCH” 653 comicbooks.com