Life, 1916-11-02 · page 40 of 46
Life — November 2, 1916 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **full-page advertisement** promoting "Everybody's Automobile Directory," a new service feature in Everybody's Magazine (November issue, price 15 cents). **The cartoon** at the top shows three well-dressed men in a car—a humorous illustration of potential car buyers, not political satire. **The pitch**: The ad addresses a genuine problem for early automotive consumers—the overwhelming choice and aggressive salesmanship in a rapidly expanding car market. It positions the directory as a rational decision-making tool, helping buyers match their budget ($400–$6,000), family size, and preferences (cylinder count, body type) against available models. **The social context**: This reflects the 1920s auto boom when car-buying involved genuine uncertainty about competing manufacturers, specs, and prices. The directory promised to democratize information, benefiting both wealthy buyers and modest-income customers ("the farmer or merchant"). **Not satire**—this is earnest advertising dressed in editorial language, targeting Life magazine's affluent readership while claiming to serve "575,000" magazine subscribers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What car are you going to buy? Is $400 your limit? Or are you going to put it all over the family with the marble front by sail- ing past them in a $6,000 burst of splendor? Do you insist on a twin-six, or would two cylinders do just as well (if you can get them)? How many in your family will ride in your car at once? These are only a few—a very few— of the important questions to be settled before you buy an automobile. They affect your happiness. They should be settled right. Your automobile should fit your family But if you wander out like a lost child with the price of an automobile in one hand the first man you meet is more likely to sell you the car that suits him rather than the car that suits you. What's all this leading up to? Everybody's Magazine has just in- stituted a new service department called Everybody’s Automobile Directory, which will be run every month for the benefit of its great mass of readers who own auto- mobiles and all that still greater crowd who intend to buy them. Every automobile manufacturer in the United States is listed in this directory. You can tell at a glance where his automobile is made, the purpose for which it is made, the number of cylinders, the number of models, and the range of price. You have a price fixed in your mind You check the list in Everybody's Automobile Directory for all cars of your price, Somewhere you may have gotten the impression that there is no sense in buying a car that has less than six cylinders. Or you may have the exact contrary impression that the 4-cylinder car is the proper standard. Whichever it is, you Cross out some of the cars You want a definite type of body. You next cross out those manufac- turers whose list of models will not meet your requirements. You have left a short list of cars which conform to your ideas. If you Look out for have other questions to ask, in addi- tion to the specifications given in Everybody’s Automobile Directory, the address of the manufacturer is before you and a line will bring you a catalog; or Everybody's Automo- bile Service Department will cheer- ~ fully give the information desired. A real service In this new Automobile Directory the publishers of Everybody’s feel that they have added one more solid extension to their service, because the directory will be of just as much value to the man or woman who buys the moderate priced car as to the purchaser of an expensive limousine. The farmer or merchant who wants a %-ton truck gets just as much benefit out of this department as the buyer of a pleasure car. Thousands of distributors, every automobile manufacturer, and every maker of accessories will find it al- most as necessary for reference as a telephone book. But its greatest value is, of course, to the 575,000 purchasers of Every- body’s Magazine and its army of readers. \ EVERYBODY’S AUTOMOBILE DIRECTORY In the November Fifteen Cents Everybody’s Magazine Now on Sale All Newsstands