Life, 1912-04-25 · page 43 of 44
Life — April 25, 1912 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **automobile advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The F.B. Stearns Company promotes their Knight-type motor engine to modern readers of *Life* magazine. The page emphasizes the engine's technical superiority: it's silent, fuel-efficient, and grows more powerful with use (unlike competitor engines that deteriorate). The company claims royalty and trophy-winning vehicles use it, and that wealthy buyers have spent $25 million on Knight-type cars. The "Famous Sponsors" section lists prestigious endorsements from European royalty and racing champions. "Mr. Knight's Choice" notes that the inventor himself owns a Stearns-Knight, lending credibility. The tone is aspirational marketing aimed at affluent readers seeking luxury and reliability. A coupon invites readers to request pamphlets. This reflects early 1900s automotive advertising when new engine technology was genuinely novel and competitive selling points.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE: he Steanms Jimuging The Million-Dollar Engine The leading motor car makers have spent engines ever made have been supplanted by it. neement ended to Alliance. wn bread tensible id ladies other for the same wer, the S soon as redient in 000,000 in perfecting the Knight-type motor. e Stearris Company has spent over $200,000. More ros the Bri rights Their engin The instan 2 valves to spring shut, no cams dere is no. ig of val r than 10,000 of the world’s best cars e this new-type motor. The greatest Famous Sponsors engine is now em: ous makers. ‘and’s greatest car— Also the been a the d since -h rights. That ha © 1908, and we multip \rols the rights for hard for ium. the master engines France— of the world—have been supplanted by the Knight. The cars of Royalty Knight-motored cars. are now The cars which won the Dewar Trophy, and the Scottish F Trophy, had Knight-type eng them. Men who know and demand the best have spent $25,000,000 to date for cars which have Knight- type motors. And the demand far exceeds the supply. For Silence For Economy — for Persistent Power attraction in speed cars of use. silence ig gears to hum. inding of valves, no s, no leakage, no the ter silence. that waste of power. Carbon never inter- feres with this motor. TheStearns-Knight willshowan excess of at least one-half over its rated power. That we guarantee. There is immense flexibility. There is that persistent power for which famous, electric motors are The Car That Glides he Stear ics on the + ce of effor ihe power *Equipment= Knight car fairly silence and smoothness resemble dl. There is no evi- ‘ms fathomless. ‘Iso Bulb Horn peat Rack Kobe Ratt Pose i fouring Car oy Tonneau dster The =| There is luxury of motion. The car rolls on the road like a rubber ball. It indicates a measureless capacity. The man who rides in this car is forever spoiled for any of the old- THE F. B. STEARNS COMPANY |: Cloud It has won the most coveted trophies. In the face of this record, think what folly it is to buy a high-grade car without knowing what the Knight-type means. It Grows Better Any old-type engine begins to de- preciate from the first day of use. Soon carbon the valves don’t shut, and much of the power is wasted. Soon there is evidence of accumulates so Soon the cams get noisy. wear. The Stearns-Knight comes better with use. more and more powerful, Its smooth- engine be- It becomes ness increases. Its silence is absolute always. Knight-type motors in constant use for six years have shown bet- ter results than when new. The whole car must be built with utter exactness, to be as quict as the One gets marvelous work the Stearns. And that means durability manship Knight. throughout Mr. Knight’s Choice Mr. Knight himself has purchased a Stearns-Knight car, He has taken it to Europe to show makers there the perfections wrought out in our shops. Beyond any question, the best of the Knight-types is this Stearns. Knight car. Nine months of use, by hundreds of owners, has developed no imperfection. ‘The leiters from own- crs form the highest tribute ever paid an American car. arns-Knight car is the topic of the season, It marks the greatest advancement of the past decade. It is in this country the first repre- sentative of a type that has captured And every man knows that Zurope adopts in. motor car incering soon becomes. universal here. But the main pride of ownership will come to the men who first drive this new-type car. Those who like to lead, as we do, will want a Stearns- Knight this year. Go Ride in It Let our local dealer take you for a ride. Mount any hill—go over any road. You will find it like sliding on runners. Judge for yourself if this new-type motor deserves. such sensation. a world-wide But first write for our books. There is nothing so interesting in the whole Dealers and Branches in 125 Principal Cities THE WILLIAMS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK line, nothing so informing. Send us this coupon and we'll mail them all. Send it today. —Coupon—= | abou! Name Address eel comicbooks.com