Life, 1914-11-05 · page 33 of 48
Life — November 5, 1914 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Goodyear tire advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Goodyear's "No-Rim-Cut" tires using early automotive marketing rhetoric. The central image shows a giant tire dominating a cityscape—a visual metaphor claiming Goodyear's market dominance. The text employs persuasive claims typical of 1920s advertising: appeals to male consumer preference, statistics about adoption rates, and assertions of superiority through testing and exclusive patented features (the "On-Air" cure process, rim-cutting prevention). The rhetorical strategy relies on social proof ("men like you" have chosen Goodyear) and appeals to safety and economic value ("low cost per mile"). Technical specifications about tread design and durability are presented as exclusive innovations. No caricatures or satirical figures appear—this is straightforward product promotion from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. of Akron, Ohio. The page reflects pre-Depression American consumer capitalism and the growing automobile industry.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Note How Goodyears PeNRiEe Dominate in Every Street You Can See That Men Prefer Them No man can doubt—if he looks around— that Goodyear tires have best met men’s re- quirements. Note what a percentage of motorists have adopted them—men who want quality tires. Goodyear tires, after 15 years of testing, out- sell any other. Those Goodyear users number hundreds of thousands. Togethertheyhavetriedout more than four million Goodyear tires. They are men like you—with wants like yours. They seek safety and sturdiness, freedom from trouble. They look for low cost per mile, just asyou do. They have decided, in this over- whelming way, that Goodyear tires excel. And today the cars with Goodyear equipment would reach a thousand miles, placed end to end. Doesn’t that suggest that, when you know what these men know, you'll also use these tires? No-Rim-Cut Tires * With All-Weather Treads or Smooth All-Weather Treads This is another exclusive Goodyear fea- ture—this tough, double-thick _anti-skid. The grips are deep and enduring, sharp- edged and resistless. Yet they are flat and regular. Here is all of a plain tread’s smoothness combined with extra thickness, extra tough- ness and a bulldog grip. What other tread, however costly, meets winter needs like this? ey . x< 3 eS 2S25 ys an re 2 of. >, <— x What Brings Men to These Tires We spend $100,000 yearly in laboratory work to insure you the utmost in a quality tire. All rubber and fabric must pass radical tests. In No-Rim-Cut tires—in a way we control —we make rim-cutting impossible. We spend $450,000 yearly on our ex- clusive “On-Air” cure. It ends a major cause of blow-outs. By a patent method—used by us alone—we reduce by 60 per cent. the risk of tread separation. Thus we directly combat, in ways exclusive to Goodyear, the main causes of tire ruin. We spend for- tunes in these ways to save tire users millions. And we avoid for our users countless needless tire troubles. These are the reasons—resistless reasons—which are bringing men to Goodyears. They are bound to bring you. pS When you call for Goodyear No-Rim-Cut tires you will get tires like these. Any dealer will supply you. THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO. AKRON, OHIO ne re ~ comicbooks.com