Life, 1912-09-19 · page 44 of 44
Life — September 19, 1912 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **luxury automobile advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes the Baker Motor-Vehicle Company's electric car, dated September 19, 1912. The ornate illustration depicts an elegant woman in period dress being driven in a Baker electric vehicle through a pastoral landscape. The imagery emphasizes luxury and refinement—aristocratic styling, low body lines, and fine interior appointments. The accompanying text argues that Baker cars appeal to "the finer senses" and distinguishes itself through structural efficiency and reliability. It claims Baker vehicles suit both professional/commercial uses and social occasions for women. **Context for modern readers:** This reflects the 1912 market moment when electric automobiles competed seriously with gasoline cars, particularly appealing to wealthy, status-conscious buyers. The gendered marketing (emphasizing a woman driver) reflects period assumptions about who purchased luxury vehicles. Electric cars were seen as refined, quiet, and safe—the opposite of loud, dangerous gasoline engines. This is advertisement-as-content, not editorial commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
September 19, 1912 n> jer Oe BZ pyran’ G = 4 ras am ie 6 FC ae iP = ak — Ye SR WE oa <u & ES Bod eats a & wr S| ow —— Baker luxury embra more than the sweeping, low- hung body lines of this aristocratic vehicle; it extends beyond even the richness of interior appointment. It is that intan- gible something which in appeal to the finer senses distinguishes the Baker from all other electric motor cars. 7 ee 2 joan. ge CG) 4 are not the Baker i : he user in surprising and positive f operation, in ine rdsuses of men for the social use: i ed from mechanical From the se Tine nomy of current had to meet any reasonable motor need. THE BAKER MOTOR-VEHICLE COMPANY, Cleveland, O. uation of Liranch and Deuler list, see other current advertisements comicboohmect