Life, 1917-01-18 · page 6 of 40
Life — January 18, 1917 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a straightforward advertisement, not satire. It promotes the White Motor Company's "Sixteen Valve" automobile from Cleveland, Ohio. The ad features an illustration of an elegant open-air touring car with two well-dressed figures—a woman in a long dress on the left and a man in formal attire on the right—examining the vehicle. The accompanying text argues that White cars achieve "marked individuality of appearance" while remaining "markedly progressive within the conservative bounds of good taste." It suggests the company offers customizable "upholstery and finish" to suit individual owner preferences. This represents typical 1920s-era luxury automobile marketing, emphasizing both distinction and refinement to appeal to affluent consumers. The design and messaging reflect period standards of elegance and exclusivity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Siztecn valve, Marked individuality of appearance in high grade cars is attained either by remaining behind general progress in body design, or by keeping so far in advance of it that popular tendencies are transcended and anticipated. White bodies are highly individual in being markedly progressive within the conservative bounds of good taste. Upholstery and finish may be selected to suit the owner's individual taste, THE WHITE COMPANY Cleveland comicbooks.com