Life — October 3, 1912 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Baker Electrics Advertisement This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes the Baker Motor-Vehicle Company's electric automobiles, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The image shows well-dressed passengers boarding or exiting an electric car surrounded by spring flowers, depicting the vehicle as elegant and suitable for leisure drives. The advertisement emphasizes Baker's competitive advantages: electric vehicles required no "cranking" (unlike gasoline cars), produced no smoke or grease, and performed reliably across various conditions. The text challenges potential customers not to underestimate Baker's capabilities simply because they're electric vehicles. It claims Baker cars have superior range, speed, and battery performance compared to competing models, and that their design quality and reliability explain their sales success. This reflects the early 1900s moment when electric vehicles were serious competitors to gasoline cars before gasoline eventually dominated.