Life — July 3, 1913 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is an **advertisement, not political satire or commentary**. It's a full-page ad for Kelly-Springfield Automobile Tires, appearing in Life magazine. The image shows a tire with what appears to be a hand emerging from or gripping it, illustrating the advertiser's claim that their tires are "Hand Made." The ad's pitch emphasizes that the rubber compound used in Kelly-Springfield tires requires hand manufacturing to achieve durability—a marketing angle suggesting superior quality compared to competitors. The ad explicitly states "no other prominent tire manufacturers produce either hand made tires or a rubber composition backed by seventeen years' experience." This reflects early automotive-era advertising, when "hand made" was marketed as a sign of quality and craftsmanship.