Life, 1916-06-22 · page 4 of 48
Life — June 22, 1916 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **primarily an advertisement**, not satire or political cartoon. It promotes the 1917 Chalmers automobile—a "5-15" model priced at $1090 in Detroit. The illustration shows a touring car with two figures: a driver and a passenger. The accompanying text celebrates Chalmers' sales achievements, noting 600 men delivered $22 million worth of cars in seven months, with 631 dealers now stocked. The headline "Now for 1917" announces the new model year. The text emphasizes the car's reliability (99.21% perfect service records) and availability in two wheelbases. There is no political satire here—this is straightforward early-automotive marketing material typical of *Life* magazine's commercial content from this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1917—“‘5-15’’ Five Passengers, 115-inch wheelbase, $1090 Detroit Colors: Oriford maroon or Meteor blue, with black wheels and gold striping Price $1475 in Canada ‘Today we announce the 1917 Chalmers models. But before I tell about them I want to express a word or two of appreciation. I stood in the Convention Hall of our plant in Detroit one day last November and saw 600 men buy $22,000,000 worth of Chalmers cars in 40 minutes. ‘These 600 men were our dealers, ‘This was a big year’s work. As you read this, just seven months later, these same 600 men have delivered the $22,000,000 worth of cars into the hands of owners. Our dealers have sold in seven months what we ex- pected would take at least twelve months to accomplish, IT want to thank our organization for the achievement—for achievement is the word. Our gain is big—792 per cent in sales in a year, And we have with us today just 631 more dealers than we had seven months ago—631 who had made envious records in distributing other cars, ‘These cars today have been run more than 1,000,000 miles. ‘They are the 3400 r. p. m. Chalmers models. And our service records show a percentage of 99.21 perfect. We never have made a car so good. So it was only natural that we should build on the 8400 r. p. m. Chalmers as a basis for our 1917 product. We have done so; and we have built the 1917 8400 r.p.m. Chalmers in two sizes, that is, in two lengths of wheelbase. One is a 115-inch car, the other is a 122-inch car. ‘The former carries five passeng: The latter seven. On these two wheelbases we have built an extensiv of bodies, leaving nothing to be desired in the way of open or enclosed types, I think they are the most attractive in lines I ever have seen as a group either here or abroad. But that, perhaps, won’t interest quite so many as the startling prices at which weareenabled tooffer them to the public. Now you can acquire a really magnificent limousine, or town car, or sedan, or a severely modern touring car, for a sum that really shocks the imaginatio But in this statement I wish to turn your attention in par ticular to the extraordinary lines of the car in the illustration. engin a argui! miles axiom J Chali T vailed shield comicbooks.com