Life, 1916-01-27 · page 6 of 44
Life — January 27, 1916 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a **luxury automobile advertisement** for the Locomotile Company of America, disguised as editorial content in *Life* magazine. The ad emphasizes exclusivity and craftsmanship: Locomotile owners enjoy "good style and taste" and "riding ease," with "solid expensive construction." The key selling point is **limited production—"Four Cars a Day"**—suggesting each vehicle receives meticulous attention. For modern readers: this represents early 1900s luxury marketing targeting wealthy elites. The ornate decorative border mimics fine art or literature pages, positioning automobile ownership as a mark of refined taste rather than mere transportation. The scarcity claim (four cars daily) was a common exclusivity strategy used to justify premium pricing and appeal to status-conscious buyers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> SIOTOOUSIPOOSSSSLSISSSVSSLESSSSITLIISSSSLIIL ELL OLS SPLCLLISLIEOIIIPLOPSIEPPLIRIDITPIPOIUIEVILIILOCELIELT OSL TTEOLLTEITSIIES, COP OOLEN COLL OTOL OLACOPOOTOLEOOO LOLOL LLILOPLOELOLLELOLLL OVER COL OO ECE LOLOLILOCOOOOTEE, CSAS LOCOMOBILE CoS Tue satisfaction of owning the Locomobile is due to its good style and taste, its riding ease, its solid expensive construction. It is an equal satisfaction to know that the production is strictly limited to Four Cars a Day in order that each car will receive intimate individual attention during the many months it is being built and the many years that it will be used. Tue Locomopite Company OF AMERICA Makers of Fine Motor Cars comicbooks.com