Life, 1914-01-08 · page 31 of 44
Life — January 8, 1914 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward automobile advertisement disguised as editorial content, a common practice in early 20th-century magazines. The page promotes **Delco** (electric cranking, lighting, and ignition systems) by reporting that an American car equipped with this technology won the prestigious Dewar Trophy from England's Royal Automobile Club. The advertisement emphasizes the system's reliability through grueling 66-hour trials: lights burned continuously, the starter was used 130 times, yet batteries remained sufficiently charged afterward. The ornate trophy photograph serves as visual proof of achievement. The text argues that 75,000 owners now replicate these results daily, implying Delco is both proven and accessible. **For modern readers**: This represents early automotive advertising that leveraged competitive testing and prestigious endorsements to build consumer confidence in emerging electric vehicle technology—a 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.
“LaF E DELCO ELECTRIC CRANKING LIGHTING IGNITION A Delco Equipped Car Has Won the World’s Greatest Automobile Honors An American Motor car equipped with the Delco Electric Cranking, Lighting and Ignition System has been awarded the famous Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club of England. The Delco System itself did not win this highly prized trophy, but it was so severely tested in the trials, and the record it made was so remarkable that some facts regarding it are bound to be of interest to motor car owners. The trials that determined the award of the Dewar Trophy involved driving 1,000 miles over all sorts of roads at an average speed of 19.5 miles an hour. This is somewhat misleading, however, as an excep- tionally high rear axle gear ratio was used through- out the trial and the actual speed at which the electric generator was driven was the equivalent of only 13.2 miles per hour with a standard rear axle. During the entire trial which lasted 66 hours and 17 minutes, or more than three days and two nights, all electric lights were burned continuously. Actual driving time, however, was only 51 hours. For over 15 hours all lamps were burned while no current was being generated. The cranking device was used 130 times; an aver- age of once every 30 minutes during the entire 66 hours. : = And at the end of the trial the batteries were still sufficiently charged to crank the engine 1,000 compressions and burn the side, tail and speedometer lights 20 additional hours. In other words, in spite of the heavy and continuous drain on the batteries for over 66 hours, while the generator was being run at unusually low speed for only 51 hours, the battery was still well charged at the end of the trial. Another very gratifying phrase of the Committee's report is found in the statement that—“ IT WAS OBSERVED AND NOTED THAT THE IGNI- TION WAS PERFECT THROUGHOUT THE TRIAL.” And yet while this entire performance of the Delco equipment is very wonderful, it is not at all surprising to drivers of Delco equipped cars. More than 75,000 automobile are duplicating, day after day in their own driving the experiences of the Royal Automobile Club Committee. owners comicbooks.com