Life, 1917-03-01 · page 6 of 42
Life — March 1, 1917 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The Duratex Company (Newark, N.J.) markets an artificial leather substitute for automobile upholstery. The ad's central conceit contrasts **nature versus progress**: a silhouetted Native American figure (representing "the end of the trail"—a reference to westward expansion's displacement of Indigenous peoples) gazes through a window at modern civilization—a house, roads, and a motor car. The copywriting argues that man-made materials surpass natural ones, claiming Duratex is "as much better than leather as the man-made motor car is better than nature's best agent of travel." The satire appears **unintentional**—juxtaposing Indigenous displacement with celebratory modernization suggests an uncomfortable historical irony the advertisers likely didn't recognize.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
S | Zi _| IS THE REAL TEST Before our very eyes a people is pass ing. For them the end of the trail came . [| with the time when nature could no longer be relied upon to provide for their wants. By the divine right of the survival of the fittest, Duratex is replacing leather for motor car upholstery. It is a man- made material—true—but it is as much better than leather as the man-made motor car is better than nature's best agent of travel. THE DURATEX COMPANY Newark, N. J. “AT THE END OF THE TRAIL” Frazser's Statue to be erceted at the western end of the Lincoln Highway. eorec gn ce et tees eeseee tt ttteee. se aes, aaes ee Totes ve eceeteneee ees Beret eeeeeccesececees reer en) iu . Oseneseceees teeceeees Seer ese comicbooks.com .