Life, 1912-07-18 · page 43 of 44
Life — July 18, 1912 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily an **advertisement**, not political satire. It features a photograph of the 1913 Peerless "48-Six" seven-passenger touring car, shown in side profile against a wooded background. The ad's text emphasizes the vehicle's visual appeal ("straight lines and perfect proportion") while arguing that true quality lies in invisible features: smooth operation, comfortable seating, soft upholstery, and spring resilience. It concludes with an invitation for a test drive demonstration. There is no cartoon, caricature, or political commentary present. This is a straightforward luxury automobile advertisement using the rhetorical strategy of contrasting superficial aesthetics with substantive engineering and comfort—a common sales approach for high-end vehicles of the era aimed at affluent buyers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
78 4 483 430 “aa people people tles ® THE PEERLESS FOR 1913 @ ITS STRAIGHT LINES AND PERFECT PROPORTION, ITS AIR OF HAVING BEEN BUILT FOR QUICK MOVEMENT, NO DOUBT APPEAL TO YOUR AD MIRATION. IT IS, WE AGREE, A BEAUTIFUL MOTOR CAR. BUT IT IS MORE THAN THAT: IT IS ASUPREMELY COMFORTABLE MOTOR CAR.YOU CAN RIDEIN IT ALL DAY WITHOUT FATIGUE.THERE IS PEACE TOR THE PASSENGER IN THE SMOOTH AND CERTAIN OPERATION OF ITS SILENT MECHANISM; REST IN THE LUXURIOUS SOFTNESS OF ITS UPHOL STERING AND THE RESILIENCE OF ITS SPRINGS. THESE QUALITIES YOU CANNOT SEE. BUT A RIDE IN THE CAR WILL PROVE THEM TO YOU. IT WILL BE A GREAT PLEASURE TO ARRANGE A DEMONSTRATION FOR YOU. @ THE PEERLESS MOTOR CAR COMPANY: CLEVELAND-OHIO comicbooks.com