Life — January 23, 1913 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is **not a cartoon or satirical content** — it's a full-page advertisement for the Locomotile Company of America, promoting their electric motor starter and lighting system for automobiles. The image shows a technical illustration of an early automobile with a driver operating the electric starter via foot pedal. The ad emphasizes the innovation's practical advantages: easy operation (no hand-cranking required), reliability, and efficiency. This reflects the historical moment when electric starters were revolutionary technology, eliminating the dangerous manual hand-crank starting method. The ad appeared in *Life* magazine as paid promotional content, not editorial satire. It's valuable primarily as evidence of early automotive innovation marketing and the transition from mechanical to electric automobile systems.