Life, 1913-01-09 · page 76 of 100
Life — January 9, 1913 — page 76: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Goodyear Tire Company advertisement**, not satire or political content. It uses a bar chart format common to Life magazine's visual style to present sales data as evidence of product superiority. The central claim: Goodyear's "No-Rim-Cut Tires" outsell competitors dramatically—sales increased 125% between 1911-1912, and 250,000 motorists have adopted them. The advertisement argues this sales success proves the tire's quality, since consumers making direct comparisons choose Goodyear. Key selling points emphasized: the tires prevent rim-cutting (damage from overloading) and minimize cost-per-mile. The ad notes that even car manufacturers specify Goodyears on new vehicles, framing this as validation from "experienced, exacting buyers." The headline "That Tells Which Tire" suggests market choice itself serves as the ultimate quality verdict—a early example of consumer-preference marketing logic. The growth trajectory shown (from minimal market share in 1908 to dominant position by 1912) reinforces this "winning product" narrative.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
No-Rim-Cut Tires — 10% Oversize Sales, 1912 —918,678 Tires Sales, 1911 — 409,521 Tires 1910 — 210,762 ~ ~ © © S is) io) © Increase — 125 per cent. In all the records of tiredom nothing compares with this That Tells Which Tire What tire maker’s claims can compete with this verdict — this final conclusion of the hundreds of thousands who have actually made comparisons? Up to November 1st, these men had tried out 1,700,000 Goodyear Tires. . And some 250,000 motorists, as a result, have adopted these tires on their cars. Year after year sales have doubled. Last year’s increase was 125 per cent. It would have exceeded 200 per cent had our output filled our orders. Count Them From Bottom Place Mark that overwhelming vote of the men who know. It denotes a new criterion on tires. Men want to end rim-cutting, to save over-loading. They are seeking, as you do, the minimum cost per mile. And a mammoth plurality, to get these things, have settled on No-Rim-Cut tire: Note the decisive decision. With some 30 tire makers contending for favor, close to one-third of all tire users now insist on Goodyears. these tires have held the topmost place this, above all else, affects the future Anywhere Note Goodyear tires at the Shows this year. Note what a percentage of the better cars are equipped with them. You'll find no other tire, we think, on half so many cars. Count them on the street—count them in salesrooms. Wherever you look, you'll find an amazing percentage favoring Goodyear tires. Then think how the number is grow- ing. re now 10 times as many users as 3 years ago. Where Will It End? This trend, you see, is just getting momentum. Our sales last year by far exceeded our previous 12 years put to- gether. And the percentage of increase—125 per cent—broke every previous record. That shows that tire users are selling these tires. The more we have, the faster we get new ones. Men are measuring mileage, figuring tire upkeep, and they are telling the facts to friends. At this ratio of increase, think what place these tires will hold in 12 months from today. In 190s—after five years of tire making—we stood in the bottom place. We made then scarcely more than one per cent of the tires. One of our rivals made 30 times as many. Two others together made 40 times our output. But the next year—in 1906—our cost of replacement was 1.41 percent. That broke all records on quality. On other tires the cost of replacement ran as high as 18.43 per cent. These are actual figures, based on royalty records. Then men began to realize the Good- year economy. Sales doubled every year. And for more than two years No-Rim-Cut Tires With or Without Non-Skid Treads in Tiredom. sale of cars. Car Builders These men have compared tires on Ad Th thousands of cars. The result is, they lopt Them will use about as many Goodyears this Last year, 122,000 new cars went out from their factories with Goodyear equipment. This year’s contracts with makers, at the minimum, insure Goodyear tires on nearly half of all the year’s production. Car builders, as you know, are the most experienced, most exacting buyers. They know which tires hold up best. They know which tires men want. They are vitally interested—more than ever before—in cutting cost of upkeep for the automobile user. For AKRON, OHIO year as all other tires put together. 8,000 Tires Daily We are building now to bring our output up to 8,000 tires a day. This will enable us to completely equip 600,000 cars per year. We shall be doing that, before many months, if the records of the past con- tinue. “And that will mean that an amazing percentage of the cars then running will have Goodyear tires. Let Yours Be One In the light of these figures, we ask you for a test. Make it for your own satisfaction. These legions of experienced car makers and users are not making mis- takes about tires. They are not coming in this way to No-Rim-Cut tires with- out a reason for it. They seek what you seck. They are getting what you want. Together they are saving on tire cost, we figure, a mil- lion dollars monthly. Go see the tires. One glance will tell you how the saving very largely occurs. comicbooks.com