Life, 1913-10-23 · page 29 of 40
Life — October 23, 1913 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire** — it's a straightforward automobile advertisement from Life magazine's advertising pages. The page promotes the Peerless Motor Car Company's vehicles, emphasizing their commercial success: dealer sales up 20%, all deliveries pre-booked, and orders exceeding factory capacity. This was typical marketing language for early automotive advertising. The illustration shows a high-end touring car (the "$48-Six" model priced at $5,000 — substantial money in this era). The text highlights luxury features: folding auxiliary seats, adjustable backs, automatic windows, electric starters, and Turkish roll upholstery. Multiple chassis options and body styles are listed, ranging from $4,300 to $7,200. The company was based in Cleveland and also manufactured trucks. This represents the competitive early automobile market when Peerless was a genuine competitor to manufacturers like Packard. No satire or political commentary is present — this is purely commercial promotion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“48-Sia" Seven-Passenger Touring —$5000 THE PROGRESS OF THE PEERLESS Dealers’ sales this year have increased twenty per cent over those for last year. Throughout the season the delivery of every Peerless has been booked ahead. Since the announcement of the present models orders have ex- ceeded the factory capacity. NEW CLOSED CARS WITH EXCLUSIVE FEATURES The acxiliary seats (Peerless patent) fold com- pletely and invisibly into the front com; ent wall. One motion places and locks either seat. The backs are adjustable in height. Nothing to interfere with feet of passengers in the rear seat. Windows are sashless -d plate, automa- tically controlled. Wide doors open almost flat against the car. Clear view in every direction. Disappearing electric corner lights. Electric step * light. Two electric chauphones. Turkish rofl upholstery. Three Six Cylinder Chassis—“38-Six,” “48- Six,” “60-Six.” Limousine, Landaulet, Coupe and Berline-Limousine Bodies. Positive electric starter, ample in powet to propel the car on high gear vj 7% gra rates on pressure of a pedal. talog or demonstration on request. Prices $4300 to $7200. THE PEERLESS MOTOR CAR COMPANY, CLEVELAND Makers also of Peerless Trucks comicbooks.com