Life, 1912-10-10 · page 47 of 48
Life — October 10, 1912 — page 47: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a full-page **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes "Tirenew," a tire-coating product manufactured by National Rubber Co. of St. Louis. The page uses educational messaging to sell the product: it explains how tire decay occurs (moisture and oil penetrate cuts in rubber, causing the cotton fabric body to rot) and positions Tirenew as the solution. The visual shows a cross-section of a damaged tire and a can of the product. The claim is substantial: users will get 20% more mileage and prevent tire failure. The ad emphasizes the product "makes the tire look like new" and protects against environmental damage (moisture, light, sun). This reflects early-to-mid 20th-century automotive culture when tire maintenance was a significant consumer concern, and waterproof coatings were marketed as technical solutions to mechanical problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Decay Is Eating the Heart Out of Your Tires Rot is a feature of tire destruction that you have overlooked—yet just as surely as cotton will decay from moisture, rot is shortening the life of your tires 20 per cent at the very least. The Progress of Decay Here’s a cut in the tire extending through the rubber surfacing to the real body of the tire. This body is built up of plies of heavy, cotton fabric. Oil gets into the cut (you know what oil will do), and you simply can’t prevent water and moisture from leaking in almost continuously and soaking the fabric. What happens—what’s bound to happen? In any such cut there starts up a fabric rotting process. Any cotton fabric subjected constantly to moisture will rot. No tire can stand up long with its body so weakened. Result—blow-outs, rim cuts, shortened tire life. Yet it is as easily preventible as it is simple—Tirenew is the preventive. You'll get 20 per cent more mileage out of your Tires by using TIRE NEW It Prevents Tire “Prevents Tire Decay _ A liquid, unvulcanized rubber compound with a base of pure gum. Applied, it puts a waterproof coating on the tire which will not rub or wash off—once on it is not a paint nor a wash, but a new coat. It gets down into the cuts and cracks and thoroughly waterproofs the fabric. It protects the whole tire from oil, moisture, light and sun—an‘ It Makes the Tire Look Like New comicbooks.com