Life, 1916-08-24 · page 6 of 42
Life — August 24, 1916 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire page** — it's a straightforward **advertisement for Timken Roller Bearings**, published in Life magazine (page 302). The image shows a mechanical hub assembly with roller bearings. The ad's rhetorical strategy uses the question "What's Under the Hub Cap?" to educate readers about bearing quality differences. It argues that while many bearing types exist, Timken Bearings are superior because they're used by "one hundred and fifty-nine makers of motor cars." The text emphasizes that hub bearings endure exceptional stress from vehicle weight and road shocks, making quality crucial. This is a **technical product advertisement**, not satire — it targets car owners and manufacturers by positioning Timken as the standard-bearer for automotive bearing reliability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ROLLER BEARINGS What’s Under Any good anti-friction bearing can give satis- factory service at certain points in a motor car, but a vital question to the car owner is — What's Under the Hub Cap? There is a vast difference between the tests that bearings have to meet on the fan shaft of a motor or the stem gear of the transmission and those which they must meet in the hubs of the wheels. Under the hub caps, the bearings in your car fight the forces of weight from above and pressure from the side. Resilient springs and deep upholstery cush- ion the road shocks for the occupants of the car, but the bearings in the wheels must take them for hours without relief. Every cobblestone, rut and car track delivers its blow with the force of a sledge hammer. Will the bearings in your car measure up to this test ? Some bearings can. Timken Bearings do— + And the proof of that statement lies in the fact that one hundred and fifty-nine makers o: motor cars— pleasure and commercial— put Timken Bearings under their hub caps. REN the Hub Cap? Long before the first motor car was built Timken Bearings were used in the hubs of heavy horse- drawn vehicles, and they made good because the basic principles of their design (which have never been changed) enabled them to resist the forces that caused other bearings to wear out. Timken Bearings have proven their ability to stand the punishment no wheel bearings can escape. But there are still other places where good bearings are equally essential—fully as important. On the pinion shaft and at the differential where gears must be held in perfect mesh and shafts in true alignment—in the transmission through which full power must come to the rear axle. Here, too, you need Timken Bearings. Send for Booklet J-2, “The Companies Timken Keeps.” Know what cars use Timken Bearings—where they are and how many they have. You may have this book free together with another book on the “Care and Character of Bearings” which will give you even a better understanding of the question, What's Under the Hub Cap?” There are many sizes of Timken Bearings— but only one quality. THE TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING CO. Canton, Ohio