Life, 1912-04-04 · page 9 of 80
Life — April 4, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. The Abbott Motor Company of Detroit is promoting their automobiles to Life magazine readers. The ad illustrates two manufacturing philosophies: building a chassis first then adding a body, versus designing the body first to match customer preferences. Abbott claims to use the latter approach, which they argue better serves the customer. The accompanying text emphasizes quality features—chrome construction, flexible springs, electric lighting—and includes a customer testimonial praising Abbott cars' reliability. There is **no cartoon or political commentary** on this page. It's a straightforward early-1900s automotive advertisement emphasizing engineering quality and customer-focused design to distinguish Abbott vehicles in a competitive market.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SS & SAE SS) ee One, to build a chassis and power plant according to the ideas of "Tone are two ways in which a motor car can be made. an engineer and equip it with a body which will fit such a chassis. The other is to determine what kind of a body will be satisfactory to the customer and then build the chassis and power plant to suit it. The former method is the one generally used, probably because auto- mobiles were first made in this way. Abbott-Detroits, however, are made after the latter method because we believe that we should give the customer what he wants and not make the customer take what we think he ought to have. ‘The general trend of automobile manufacture this year has shown that we are right. Public opinion, after all, solves such problems. In Abbott-Detroit Motor Cars everything has been made subservient to the owner's comfort and nafety. Their modern design, roominess, general formation and luxurious upholstering shows it. ‘The long, flexible springs, the location of the axles, the distribution of the weight, the angle of the steer- ing wheel, the location of the dash, are all the re- sults of a design for which our owners are responsible. ‘That our efforts along this line have not been in sain, is evidenced by the fact that many Abbott- Detroit owners have bought cars year after year. Their choice has always been the Abbott-Detroit. One man In particular says: “I have already owned seven cars, four of them have been Abbott-Detroits no one will ever sell me any other make again.” Remember, all Abbott -Detroit Motor Cars are “guaranteed for life.” PORTANT ABBOTT-DETROIT FEATURES ull foating type rear axle Nie ruction throughout with Timken or bearings. jery wheels. Large diameter tl mountable rims. Latest design ventilated fore-door bodies. Combination oll and electric side and taillamps. Elece tric head Hants, ahting battery, full set of tools Roadsters, Touring pes, Limousines — prices ranging from $1278 to $3080 Dynamo equipment fo Hanna self-starter with ABBOTT MOTOR COMPAN Y 615 WATERLOO STREET DETROIT, MICHIGAN comicbooks.com