Life, 1912-05-30 · page 27 of 44
Life — May 30, 1912 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **car advertisement**, not satire, though it reveals period attitudes about women and automobiles. The ad markets the Inter-State automobile to women by emphasizing **labor-saving features**: electric self-starter, automatic lights, and self-operating tire pump. The repeated message is that women needn't perform physical tasks—the car "does the work" while she merely "directs it." The photographs show women operating the vehicle with minimal effort, positioned as the target market. This reflects early 1900s marketing logic: automobiles with electrical systems (versus hand-crank starters) were pitched to women as requiring less strength and mechanical knowledge. The satire is **unintentional but evident to modern readers**: the ad assumes women are incapable of or uninterested in actual mechanical operation, reducing driving to effortless button-pushing. This patronizing approach—marketing cars on the basis of removing "labor" rather than performance or capability—reveals contemporary gender assumptions about what would appeal to female consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ETPS* Electrically Started and Lighted HE advent of the Inter-State, with its marvelously simple mechanism, its electrical self-starter and its self-controller has Brought a revolution in motoring. Now the powerful and magnificent Inter-State - starts and obeys the will of the woman driver as readily, as easily and as simply as an_ electric coupe. Without moving from the driver’s seat or shifting gears, she starts the engine by a turn of the switch—regulates the mixture by a simple movement of the lever on the steering column, and the magnificent Inter-State is under way and under perfect and absolute control, with no more trouble than turn- ing on an electric light. The Inter-State electric self-starter is part of the ete ane pie fee No Labor to Start the Inter State turns the engine itself until it picks up under its own power. Electric Lights as in Your Own Home NE of the greatest features of the Inter-State is its electric light system —not a single light or two—but an entire and reliable system, front— side—rear, all correlated and so arranged that by a turn of the switch, without leaving the driver's seat, any or all of the lights may be turned on in all their brill: ) ancy. No more gas tanks, no more oil filling, no more lamp trimming or adjusting. The system is simply per- fect. The front headlights are provided witha dimming feature so that driving in city streets may be done witha medium diffused light. Write Today for Art Catalog This describes fully the six 40 and 50 H. P. completely equipped Models which cost from $2,400 to $3,400. Gives complete details of all the equipment and features, and also shows the Inter-State Models 30-A and 32-B, 40 H.LP., costing $1,750 and $1,700 respectively. Boston Branch: 153 Massachusetts Avenue Controls Itself Pumps its Own Tires Tet greatest nuisance of motoring—tire pumping —is totally eliminated with the Inter-State equip- ment. Any woman can at- tach the valve to the tire, turn on the pump and in a few minutes can have tires just as solid and as per- fectly filled as if done by the greatest tire expert in the world. The Inter-State does the work, You direct it. There is nothing to it at all and you are fore-armed for any emergency with the com- plete and thorough equip- ment of the Inter-State. Motoring Now All Pleasure HIS great car performs all the labor itself—electrically self- started—electric lights and ignition, tire pumping and the automatic regulation of fuel consumption. Inter-State Tire Pumping—No Work For the first time in the history of the automobile, electricity plays its real part in the entire mechanism. The Inter-State Electric System is really the nerve system commanding the energy and motion of the powerful steel muscles that make the Inter- State such a masterpiece of construction, Every conceivable accessory and feature is built into or included in the Inter-State. The Inter-State is truly the only complete car in this country or abroad—and this statement is made advisedly. Only Complete Car—Equipment and Features Unequalled The Omaha Branch: INTER-STATE z i di AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, Dept W, Muncie, Indiana comicbooks.com