Life, 1913-02-20 · page 29 of 48
Life — February 20, 1913 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is entirely a **Goodyear Tire advertisement**, not satire or political content. The "story" framing is purely marketing rhetoric. The page presents Goodyear's narrative of innovation: fourteen years of development (from ~1896) culminating in two patented inventions—even fabric tension and "No-Rim-Cut" tire design—that allegedly eliminated rim damage (which destroyed 23% of older tires) and added 25% mileage through 10% larger sizing. The key persuasion tactic: **odometers**. The text claims consumers shifted from buying tires by "old-time reputation" to demanding documented mileage records, allowing Goodyear's superior performance to prove itself measurably. This sales explosion (125% year-over-year growth, 2 million tires annually) allegedly followed once buyers could compare actual results. The "Story Ages Old" headline—"when one man does one thing better than anyone else, the world always finds him out"—is simply corporate mythology: innovation speaks for itself. There is no actual satire here; this is straightforward early-20th-century product advertising dressed in narrative form.
📄 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 A Story Ages Old When one man does one thing better than anyone else, the world always finds him out That’s all there is to the Goodyear story, now on a million tongues. Make no mistake. One tire has not out- sold all others without a reason for it And the hundreds of thousands who have come to this new type are not men to be deceived. The Story Is This Men sought a way to minimize the cost of tire upkeep. Fourteen years ago the Goodyear peo- ple started out to find it. The way was hard, the path unblazed, progress very slow. Five years after starting we made scarcely more than one per cent of the tires Three of our ri at that time made 70 times as many. Six years after starting our cost of re- placement, under our warrant, ran 1.43 per cent. And that, in a most sensational way, broke all the records of Tiredom. It was then—in 1906—that men began to recognize the worth of Goodyear tires. Then Came Two Great Inventions Then the Goodyear experts brought out a new way of building tires. It secured equal tension on every inch of the fabric. We control the patents on it. No-Rim-Cut our They also brought out the type, which is also controlled by patents. That ended rim-cutting, which destroys about 23 per cent of all old-type tires. Then these tires were made 10 per cent oversize. And that, with the average car, added 25 per cent to the tire mileage. These features together gave No-Rim- Cut tires an advantage which proved Flood-Like Demand From that time on Goodyear sales doubled every year. Then they more than doubled. Last year’s increase was 125 per cent, though orders for 400,000 tires had to go unfilled Long ago these tires outsold every other tire in existence. Now this year’s output, in all probability, will exceed two million tires. Nearly half of all the new cars this year will go to their buyers with Good- year equipment. AKRON, OHIO No-Rim-Cut Tires With or Without Non-Skid Treads Odometers Did It The greatest jump in Goodyear came with the vogue of odometers. sales Men used to buy tires by guesswork— by old-time reputation. They rarely made actual comparisons. But corders. most cars now have mileage re- Men buy their tires by records. As a result, our output today times larger than two years ago. Heed What Users Say Some hundreds of thousands of motor cars now are running on Goodyear tires. Wherever you look you will find men who know them—men who know their records. Ask some of those men to re- veal their comparisons. Common sense tells you that tires which can’t rim-cut—oversize tires—must be bet- ter than others. Common sense says that tires outsell must excel in some ways Ask users if they do that. Then judge for yourself if it pays these people to in- sist on No-Rim-Cut tires. Ask us for the Goodyear Tire Book— l4th-year edition. It tells all known ways to economize on tires. which in non-skids. A double-thick tread, made of very tough rubber, immensely en- during. Deep-cut, sharp-cut block countless edges and ai ing a bulldog grip. Blocks which meet at the base, so the strains are distributed just as with emooth-tread tires. Have you ever seen another non- tkid which meets these essentials? —insur- THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO Branches and Aj More Service Seri 103 Principal Cities tations Than Any Other Tire We Make All Kinds of Rubber Tires, Tire Accessories and Repair Outfits Main Canadian Office, Toronto, Ont.—Canadian Factory, Bowmanville, Ont. 7 comicbooks.com