Life, 1916-10-26 · page 7 of 46
Life — October 26, 1916 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **corporate advertisement**, not political satire. The page presents a speculative thought experiment: imagining civilization without rubber. The left column catalogs catastrophic consequences—fires would rage unchecked without rubber hoses, industrial machinery would fail without rubber belts and packing, surgical instruments couldn't function, railroad air brakes would disappear. The text emphasizes rubber's invisible but essential role in modern infrastructure. The right column pivots to promoting the **United States Rubber Company** as the solution, highlighting their 47 factories and comprehensive product range: belts, hoses, footwear, tires, wire insulation, and heels. The advertisement uses fear of societal collapse to justify the company's importance and presumably encourage consumer loyalty or investment. It's early-20th-century corporate boosterism disguised as practical reasoning.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
— = - = Rubberless World MAGINE this world suddenly deprived of rub- ber! Fires, now quenched by the use of rubber- lined fire hose, would feast on cities. Gardens would shrivel up. More than half the wheels of industry would stop for lack of rubber belting. Engines and pumps could not be operated without rubber packing. Factories and mines would close down. Think of the railroad disasters if there were no tubber air-brake hose! With the disappearance of fj ar and steam drill hose, the digging of our building foundations and the tunneling of mountains could only proceed at the pace of the pick and shovel. Without rubber gloves and rubber surgical instru- ments the surgeon would be badly handicapped. Suf- ferings, unsoothed by the ice bag and hot water bottle, would be unbearably acute. This is a glimpse. Picture the rest. Imagine your everyday world abruptly set back three-quarters of a century! A startling thought—but one that need not worry you. For in the last 74 years there has grown nited States Rubber Company comicbooks.com up a mighty rubber industry, able to supply civilization with the rubber articles it needs. With this industry has grown the group of rubber companies which form the United States Rubber Company, the largest rubber manufacturer in the world. From the 47 tremendous factories of the United States Rubber Company comes every kind of rub- ber goods humanity demands. It is a well-balanced output, embracing not only belting, hose, pack- ing, mechanical and moulded rubber goods of every description, but also all styles of rubber footwear; canvas rubber-soled shoes; weather- proof clothing; tires for automobiles, motor trucks and all other vehicles; druggists’ rubber goods; insulated wire; soles and heels—each in gigantic quantities. The usefulness of the United States Rubber Company does not hinge on the continued demand for any one product. It grows with the increasing use of rubber for every purpose. And with that growth comes an increasing ability to furnish the quality, variety and quantity of rubber goods the public needs.