Life, 1913-09-18 · page 31 of 44
Life — September 18, 1913 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Goodyear tire advertisement**, not satirical content. It appeared in *Life* magazine, which carried advertising alongside humor and commentary. The ad promotes Goodyear's "No-Rim-Cut" tires by highlighting three technical innovations: air-bag vulcanization (curing), a patented anti-tread-separation fabric, and rim-cutting prevention. The central image shows a cross-section of the tire's fabric structure. The **sales pitch** emphasizes that Goodyear alone employs these features (claiming to spend $1,500 daily on quality control) while offering them at no premium price. The rhetoric positions this as consumer protection—preventing costly "blow-outs" and tread failure common in competitors' products. For a modern reader: this reflects early-20th-century automotive culture when tire failure was routine and expensive. Goodyear positions itself as the quality leader through technological superiority and manufacturing investment, a standard advertising strategy still used today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To Save Blow-Outs On No-Rim-Cut Tires We Spend $1,500 Daily—No Other Tire Maker Does That This “On-Air Cure,”—done to save blow-outs—costs us $1,500 daily. And no other maker employs it. It is one of the three features used in No-Rim-Cut tires alone which have saved tire users millions of dollars. It is one of the three reasons why No-Rim-Cut tires far outsell any other. All these tires are final-vulcanized on air bags, shaped like inner tubes. They are cured under road conditions. Cured in this way—on elastic air—the fabric doesn’t wrinkle. Every inch shares the strain. All other tires are vulcan- ized on iron cores alone. The fabric often wrinkles. See the picture. This wrinkled fabric shares no strain, and that leads to countless blow-outs. Loose Treads Tread separation near the breaker strip is another costly ruin. We use for this strip—at the base of the tread—a patent fabric which is woven with hundreds of quarter- inch holes. The tread rub- ber is forced down through these holes, forming count- less rubber rivets. Then the whole tire is vulcanized No-Rim-Cut Tires With or Without Non-Skid Treads en masse. In no other tire is this thing done to prevent tread separation. . . No Rim-Cutting Then rim-cutting is made impossible by a method which we control. With clincher tires—the hooked-base tires— rim-cutting ruins almost one tire in three. ‘This is proved by careful statistics gathered by public accountants. We save all that ruin. And the way we control is the only satisfactory way known to do this. No Extra Price In No-Rim-Cut tires you get these three features which no other maker uses. You save blow-outs, save loose treads; and you end rim-cutting completely. Yet these tires now, be- cause of mammoth output, cost you no extra price. No standard tire made without these features costs less than No-Rim-Cut tires. That is why No-Rim-Cut tires hold the leadership of Tiredom. No other tire in all the world has nearly so many users. And you will be one of this army of users when you once make a mileage AKRON, OHIO comparison. Our dealers are every- where. THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO Branches and Agencies in 103 Principal Cities For Sale by all Dealers More Service Stations 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. London address, Central House, Kingsway, London, W. C.