Life, 1916-03-30 · page 43 of 45
Life — March 30, 1916 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **corporate apology advertisement**, not political satire. The opening cartoon shows people at a church service praying for rain—only one girl brings an umbrella, establishing the joke: demand for Kelly-Springfield Tires has arrived so unexpectedly fast that the company is unprepared, like an unbelieving congregation caught in a downpour. The ad's core message: Kelly-Springfield's tires are so excellent that demand has massively exceeded their production capacity. Rather than admit failure, the company frames this as a *compliment*—they've underestimated customer enthusiasm. The company explains they cannot simply build new factories because tire-making requires specially trained craftsmen ("hand-made"), not ordinary workmen. They promise customers can avoid disappointment by ordering ten days in advance, and pledge they'll never sacrifice quality for speed. This reflects early 20th-century manufacturing challenges and marketing strategy: turning a supply shortage into evidence of superior product quality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ikethis jover of 1 Peck.” master ymortal ‘rusoe,” pirates, rsea life wonder them We are like the rest of that congregation. We knew the rain was coming, but we didn’t expect it so soon. The extraordinary service which Kelly-Springfield Tires give made it inevitable that the demand would increase by leaps and bounds, but we thought we could increase facilities to keep pace with it. We couldn’t. Will you excuse us while we get our umbrella? Believe us, this is some shower. Kelly -Springfield Automobile Tires - Hand Made E regret that we underestimated the excellence of Kelly-Springfield Tires. We nearly doubled our output in 1915 and plan an equal increase in 1916. We thought this would keep pace with your demands. You see Kelly-Springfield Tires are different from other tires. That is why they yield extra- ordinary mileage. That is responsible for your big demand. They are hand-made tires and the miles are built into them—painstakingly and carefully as a machine cannot build them. Were it merely a matter of buying new factories —or even building new factories—we could keep pace with you. But it is more than that. It is necessary to train the hands which make them. Ordinary work- men will not do. We have bought a factory. We are about to build another. We have been training workmen for a Icng time to be ready for the new factories. We are prepared for a big increase. And we will keep pace with future demands. But we must have time to catch up. Still it is not necessary that you should be disappointed when you need Kelly-Springfield Tires. If you will anticipate your needs and let us know ten days in advance, you can have the tires when you need them. The present demand for Kelly-Springfield Tires rests upon service rendered. We pledge you that they will continue to deserve your confidence. We will never sac- rifice quality to increase production. Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. Factories in Akron and Wooster, Ohio Executive Offices: B'way and 37th St, New York PETER J, CAREY, PRINTER comicbooks.com