Life, 1912-10-24 · page 43 of 48
Life — October 24, 1912 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising mixed with light humor content**, typical of Life magazine's format. The main advertisement promotes **Pennsylvania Vacuum Cup Tires**, claiming they resist oil damage—a genuine problem for early automobiles on newly oiled roads. The pitch addresses a real concern: oil-soaked pavements damaged tires by seeping into pores and cuts, causing expensive failure. The "oil-proof" tire was presented as a technological solution to this specific automotive hazard of the era. The surrounding content includes minor jokes and historical essays (on macaronyism's etymology, a physician's quip about sulphur in bodies). **The satirical point**: The ad's dramatic language—"Tire Terrors," "oil disease"—humorously exaggerates a genuine mechanical problem into an almost medical catastrophe, using fear-based marketing typical of early 20th-century advertising. The tire solution is positioned as protection against a very real but mundane problem of the automobile age. Also visible: Cunard cruise ship ads, reflecting this publication's affluent readership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
iftcr time ufter Id. le TPE? The “Different” Cigarette 1 am willing to retire before my betters—but as yet I have not found them. MILO. THE SURBRUG COMPANY, New York Robbing the Oiled Road of its Tire Terrors SAVE themoney you are now losing through “oil disease” in your tires. Equip your car with A Poser for the Doctor A New York physician was giving an informal talk on physiology upon the windy, sea-fronting porch of an Atlantic City hotel. “Also,” he said, “it has lately been found that the human body contains sul- phur.” “ Sulphur!" exclaimed a girl in a blue and white blazer. How much sulphur is there, then, in a girl's body?” “Ob,” said the physician, “the amount varies.” “And is that,” asked the girl, “ why some of us make so much better matches than others?” —St. Louis Globe-Democrat. smiling, How Macaronyism Originated Folengio Theophilus of Mantua, known also by the title of Merlin Coccaye, an Italian poct, gave name to a poem, which has been adopted ever since for all tri- fling performances of the same species, consisting of buffoonery, puns, anagrams, wit without wisdom and humor without good sense. His poem was called “The Macaroni,” from an Italian cake of the PE NO SYLVANIA VACUUM! cup TIRES They resist the ruinous effects of oil. Oiled roads and pavements, oily garage floors and leaky tanks play havoc with ordinary tires. The oil soaks in through the pores and small cuts and gets in its costly work of destruction. Pennsylvania Vacuum Cup Tires are now made oil-proof so you can defy oil in any form. This new and exclusive quality is added to the guaranteed anti-skid and long service features which have made Pennsylvania Vacuum Cup Tires famous. The “oil proof” feature is simply the crowning improvement—the greatest tire economy ever introduced. Try a set of Pennsylvania Oil Proof Vacuum Cup Tires. will share the satisfaction of all who are now using them. At your own dealer's, or write us. PENNSYLVANIA RUBBER COMPANY (Reoegsnlze Fetrary 2, 91 JEANNETTE, PA. , BRANCHES: You “FRANCONIA” Nov. 28, Jan. 18 “CARONIA” Jan. 30, Mar. 15 For Particulars apply to CUNARD CRUISE DEP’T. 21 State St., New York same name, which is sweet to the taste, but has not the least alimentary. virtuc On the cont cloys. the Unsurpassed Luxury and Comfort Madeira, Gibraltar, Algiers “LACONIA” Nov. 9, Jan. 4 . it palls the appetite and ch. These idle poe: however, became the reigning tas Haly and in France. They gave birth to } i academies, and reaching Eng land, to M clubs—till at last. everything contemptible and ridiculous in the character, dress or be- havior of both men and women, is now summed up in the despicable appellation of “A Macaroni.” ston in ALA CARTE WITHOUT CHARGE STOPOVERS PERMUTIED ‘oni insipid, comicbooks.com