Life, 1917-02-22 · page 33 of 42
Life — February 22, 1917 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not satire or a political cartoon—it's a **straightforward product advertisement** for Goodyear Cord Tires, occupying page 321 of *Life* magazine. The image shows a large tire dominating a Berkshire Hills landscape, with a small car and figure for scale. The accompanying text is a earnest marketing pitch emphasizing the tire's superior design, materials, and manufacturing quality. Goodyear claims their product represents "the quality tire of America" and justifies its higher price through exceptional craftsmanship by "seventeen thousand" workers. The ad mentions practical details—different tread types and compatibility with both gasoline and electric cars (indicating early 20th-century vintage when electric vehicles were still common). It directs readers to Goodyear Service Station Dealers. For modern readers: this represents early automotive advertising's focus on *quality and engineering credibility* rather than style or lifestyle marketing. The rural landscape positioning suggests reliability for everyday driving on varied terrain.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HEN we tell you that the Good year Cord Tire is the dest tire we know how to build, westate the precise fact. How best? In design, in quality of materials, in manner of construction; 1n activity, com- fort and strength; in consistent usefulness and eventual economy. We mean that the combined effort of seventeen thou- sand Goodyear workmen —factorymen, engineers and executives—bent upon superlative achievement, equipped beyond improvement, backgrounded by productive and successful experience, can produce nothing finer, nothing more skillfully wrought. Itshould bean exceptional tire, it ‘san exceptional tire. It is exceptional in all things in which a tire should be efficient, and it is exceptional in the absence of those things which would modify such efficiency. By its performance in everyday service it has assumed the commanding position as the quality tire of America. Which quality makes it higher-priced—and Jetter. Goodyear Cord Tires come in No-Hook and Q.D. Clincher types, in both All-Weather and Ribbed Treads, for gasoline and electric cars. Goodyear Tires, Heary Tourist Tubes and “Tire Saver" Accessories are easy to get from Goodyear Service Station Dealers everywhere. !) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio CORD TIRES comicbooks.com