Life, 1913-08-28 · page 6 of 40
Life — August 28, 1913 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or a cartoon**—it's a straightforward advertisement for Goodyear No-Rim-Cut tires from the early 20th century (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio). The ad makes a business argument: Goodyear's premium tires, formerly one-fifth more expensive than competitors, now cost the same as standard tires. The pitch emphasizes technological advantages: special "On-Air Cure" vulcanization process, methods to prevent tread separation, and elimination of "rim-cutting" defects that plagued earlier tires. The accompanying image shows a cross-section of a tire. The advertising strategy is straightforward: justify premium pricing through superior manufacturing and durability claims, ultimately presenting cost parity as a consumer win. This represents early automotive-industry competition based on technical innovation rather than price alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tire Prices Down Now the Costliest Tires—No-Rim-Cut Tires Cost You No More Than Others Goodyear No-Rim-Cut tires used to cost one- fifth more than other standard tires. The rea- sons are told below. These tires, despite that extra cost, came to outsell any other. As our output grew the cost came down. Now you pay no more for No-Rim-Cut tires - than for any other standard tire. Yet notice what you get. Rim-Cutting Ended You cave in these tires all the ruin of rim-cut- ting. And that’s an enormous item. We had public accoungants lately gather statistigs. They examined thousands of ruined clincher tires— the old-type hooked - base tires. And they found that 31.8 per cent had been dis- carded for rim-cutting only. That’s almost one in three. No-Rim-Cut tires, made by a costly method which we control, end that loss completely. That we guarantee. Save Blow- Outs We give these tires the “On-Air Cure.”’? That is, they are final-vulcanized on air bags shaped like inner tubes. THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO Branches end Agencies in 103 Principal Cities We Make All Kinds of Rubber Tires, Tire Accessories and Repair Outfits The fabric often buckles. leads to countless blow-outs. separation. through the loosening of the treads. tire in the world employs the effective method we use to combat it. No-Rim-Cut Tires With or Without Non-Skid Treads That’s to save wrinkling the fabric. All other tires are vulcanized on iron cores alone. And that buckled fabric This “On-Air Cure,” which we alone employ, adds to our tire cost $1,500 per day. Save Loose Treads We use another costly method to prevent tread The rights to it cost us $50,000. Millions of dollars have been lost to tire users No other Yet No Extra Price You get all these savings in No-Rim-Cut tires. All these features used by no one else. Yet no other stand- ard tire today costs less than No-Rim-Cut tires. The reasons are mam- moth output, new factories, new equipment. In one item alone—in overhead cost—we have saved 24 per cent. Another reason is that we keep our profits within 8% per cent. Judge for yourself if tires lacking these features are worth the Goodyear price. AKRON, OHIO Our dealers are every- where. More Service Stations Than Any Other Tire Main Canadian Office, Toronto, Ont.—Canadian Factory, Bowmanville, Ont. comicbooks.com