Life, 1914-04-16 · page 32 of 44
Life — April 16, 1914 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Gargoyle Mobiloil advertisement** disguised as educational content—not political satire. The "cartoon" is the repeated scenario of a motorist casually asking a garage attendant for "a quart of oil" without specifying the correct grade. The satire targets **consumer ignorance about motor lubrication**. The page warns that indiscriminately pouring any oil into a car invites multiple mechanical failures: friction-drag, power loss, cylinder scoring, bearing wear, wrist-pin damage, carbon deposits, and noise. Each problem is illustrated with small engine diagrams. The joke is that early motorists treated oil selection casually, not understanding that different engine components required different oil viscosities and qualities. The solution: consult Gargoyle Mobiloil's detailed compatibility chart (shown below) to select the correct grade for your specific vehicle. This reflects the **early automotive era** (appears to be 1910s) when car maintenance was poorly understood and standardization was just developing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
704 SUESIEESES: “Give me a quart of oil” This careless request may bring costly penalties The garage man comes out. The motorist says, “Give me a quart of oil.” His “ quart of oil” is poured into the crank-case, or reservoir. The car goes on. No doubt the motorist thinks he has amply protected the 1500-odd parts of his motor. Far from it. One of the surest ways to invite friction-drag and motor trouble is to say, “ Give me a quart of oil.” “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Loss of Power Escape of explosion past the piston rings, loss of compression and loss of power frequently result from oil of incorrect body. The power-loss is felt most on heavy roads and on the hills. You can get full compression—com- plete power—only by using oil whose body suits your motor. Correct body is seldom secured by say- ing, “ Give me a quart of oil.” FRICTION-DRAG “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Scored Cylinder Walls Scoring frequently re- sults from oil of low lubri- cating quality. Often, also, the oil’s body is too light. Then the cylinder walls have no protecting film. Scratching results. Too often the blame can be traced straight to, “ Give me a quart of oil.” “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Wear of Bearings The problem of bearing- lubrication is far from sim- ple. Bearings differ widely in type and size. The oiling systems which supply them also differ. Adjustments vary. Both the quality and body of the oil must suit these conditions. For every oil that suits your motor bearings, you will find many which will cause undue friction. An almost sure start toward bearing- trouble is, “ Give me a quart of oil.” “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Wear of Wrist-Pins Wrist-pin lubrication is a difficult problem and little understood. The location of the wrist- pins within the heated pis- tons and the slight angular motion of the bushings demand an oil which will spread readily, yet maintain the proper film be- tween the pins and bushings. Quick damage will come if the oil fails to meet these conditions. To encourage wrist-pin troubles prematurely, it is only heey to say, “Give me a quart of oil.” “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Carbon Deposit Guesswork won't elimi- nate this trouble. Both the quality and the body of the oil must be considered. Suppose the body is too light for the piston clearance. The oil then works too freely into the combustion chambers. In burning, excess carbon accumulates un- less the oil’s ash is light and naturally expelled through the exhaust. An easy road to carbon trouble is, “Give me a quart of oil.” “Give me a quart of Oil” invites Noise Noise is often a sign of worn parts— resulting from friction. A guide to correct Automobile lubrication tion: In the schedule, the letter opposite the car indicates the grade of Gargoyle Mobiloil that should be used. For example, “A” means “Gargoyle Mobiloil A," Arc means Gargoyle Mobiloil “* Arctic.” For all electric vehicles use Gargoyle Mobiloil “A.” The recommendations cover both pleasure and commercial vebicles unless otherwise noted, Mobiloils A grade for cach type of motor