Life, 1915-03-11 · page 3 of 48
Life — March 11, 1915 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **car advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It appears in *Life* magazine (page 399) and promotes the Hudson Motor Car Company's "Light Six" automobile priced at $1550. The ad uses comparative engineering claims rather than humor: it argues that Hudson combined "lightness with strength" through innovative design by engineer Howard E. Coffin. The illustration shows the car crossing a steel bridge, visually representing durability. The text emphasizes that 10,000+ owners validate Hudson's quality and reliability compared to competing "Light Sixes." The marketing strategy appeals to practical buyers seeking value between $1000-$2000. This is straightforward early-1900s automotive advertising emphasizing technical specifications and testimonials—not satirical content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lightness Can Be Combined With Strength HUDSON PROVED IT When light steel bridges took the place of stone, there came up the question of strength in them. When steel buildings displaced solid masonry, the question arose again. So in automobiles. The early high-grade Sixes weighed 4500 pounds. That overtax in tires and fuel barred the Six to most men. Now it is known that overweight was a crudeness, a weakness in itself The Hudson Remedy Howard E. Coffin, the great HUDSON engineer, long ago decided that lightness could be combined with strength. He displaced cast iron with aluminum. He adopted pressed steel. He re-designed a thousand parts to secure staunch- ness without weight. His hollow driving shaft illustrates one method of weight reduction. Then he designed a small-bore, high-speed motor. That let him lighten a hundred parts because of the lesser After four years. of effort, the final result is this HUDSON for $1550. It weighs 2890 pounds, ready for the road. As compared with old-time Sixes, it has cut fuel and tire cost in two. Excess Out-of-Date The Light Six vogue started with this HUDSON. Now crude excess is distinctly out-of-date. The leading cars average hundreds of pounds less than last year. But the HUDSON, because of our years of refinements, is the lightest in its class—the lightest 7-passenger Six. This year if you pay between $1000 and $2000, you are pretty, a to want a Light Six. Your sole question is, “ Which is the best Light Six?” 10,000 Men Say Hudson Over 10.0 men chose the HUDSON. Half of them bought last year's model, and have driven it two seasons. Half bought this year's model. Together they have driven this car, perhaps 25 million miles. They have proved it right. They have found no weak- ness, no shortcoming. Any owner around you will say that. That's the all-important point. Every old-time standard has been radically revised in creating the Light Six. And only time and tests can demonstrate the avoidance of mistakes. The HUDSON has met those tests. It is a proved success. Its buyers take no chances. It is, in addition, a Howard E. Coffin model. It is a finished product, showing the results of four years of refinement. We believe that you'll select it. HUDSON Six-40 Seven-Passenger Phaeton, $1550, f..0. b. Detroit. Four other styles of bodies. The HUDSON Company never loses interest in the cars it sells. So long as a car is in service we maintain our interest in the character of its service. That's one great reason for HUDSON reputation, HUDSON MOTOR CAR COMPANY Detroit, Michigan