Life — January 13, 1916 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is primarily **an advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It's a Baker and Rauch & Lang Electric automobile advertisement from the early 1900s (the New York Show dates Dec. 31-Jan. 8 suggest early January timing). The image depicts a well-dressed mother with two children in an electric car, viewed from above. The ad emphasizes "Confidence" and "driving simplicity" — key selling points for electric vehicles of that era, which were considered safer and easier to operate than gasoline cars. The appeal targets middle-class families concerned with safety. The text stresses that electric cars required no manual gear-shifting or mechanical complexity, making them ideal for women drivers and families with children. This reflects the period when electric vehicles competed seriously with gasoline automobiles before the latter ultimately dominated the market.