Life, 1913-01-09 · page 81 of 100
Life — January 9, 1913 — page 81: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward automobile advertisement from Life magazine's early automotive era. The image shows a line-drawn illustration of the 1910s-era Garford Six automobile with well-dressed passengers and onlookers. Below runs extensive advertising copy promoting the vehicle's features and price ($2,750). The advertisement's notable claim is that mass production of 10,000 units allows the manufacturer to offer a "high grade six cylinder" car at an unusually low price by spreading fixed costs across volume. This reflects early-20th-century American manufacturing optimism about industrial efficiency. There is **no political satire or social commentary** visible here. Life magazine, while known for humor and satire elsewhere, also published conventional advertisements. This represents standard commercial promotion of the era's automobile technology to affluent readers who could afford such vehicles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ $2750 HIS new Six—the latest Garford offering—is built by the most experienced and practical six cylin- der designers in America. It is the net result of years of ceaseless expert experimentation with all kinds and descriptions of sixes. This new Six differs from the average Six in that it is brand new in every respect. No part, piece or pattern has ever been used in any other Six. No old designs have been re-designed in an effort to bring them up to date. Itis a new Six—throughout. Every single part, such as the motor, the electrical equipment, the axles, the transmission, the frame, the speedometer—which is driven from the transmission— the big, single electric parabolic headlight, sunk flush with the radiator, and the one-piece all-steel body is new. In fact, the entire car is an entirely new develop- ment in design, treatment, style and finish, based on the very latest European and American six-cylinder practice. The new Garford Six is a five passenger touring car. It is electrically started; all lights are electric; the horn is electric; it has a sixty horsepower, long-stroke motor —the measurements of which are 334” by 6”,—the wheel-base measures 128 inches; the tires are 36” x 414"; The New Garford Six $2750 it has demountable rims; it has the very practical and popular left-hand drive and center control; it is, of course, completely equipped with the very best and very finest accessories. The price, complete, is $2750. For the first time in the history of the automobile business, we are producing high grade six cylinder cars in lots of ten thousand—which accounts for this very low price. As everyone knows, quantity production will decrease the individual manufacturing cost of every car produced. Overhead and production costs must be reckoned with, whether one thousand or ten thousand cars are manufactured. These fixed charges must be equally spread over a production, regardless of its size. To explain .—The expenses of a certain set of tools cost- ing $10,000, distributed over a 100 car output, would be $100 per car. The same amount, distributed over a $10,000 car output, is but $1 per car. Thus we are able to produce this high grade six cylinder automobile at this very low figure. You can see this new Garford Six either at your local dealer’s or at the big national automobile shows that are now being held throughout America. The point is—don’t fail to see it. In the meantime write us direct for descriptive and illustrative literature. (Please Address Dept. 3) The Garford Company, Elyria, Ohio comicbooks.com