Life, 1917-03-29 · page 33 of 42
Life — March 29, 1917 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or political commentary**—it's a straightforward commercial advertisement for Goodyear tires, appearing in *Life* magazine around the 1920s. The imagery uses patriotic framing: Independence Hall in Philadelphia establishes American manufacturing pride. The enormous tire dominates the composition, dwarfing the classical building and tiny car/people below, visually emphasizing the tire's importance and durability. The ad's rhetorical strategy appeals to modernist values: efficiency, engineering progress, and athletic strength. Phrases like "all energy and spring" and "cushioned freedom under impact" anthropomorphize the tire, suggesting it performs effortlessly. The reference to "lack of labor in its progress" is **not** a labor critique but marketing copy claiming the tire requires minimal maintenance—it works without wearing out quickly. The patriotic setting and "progress in tire-building" language connect product quality to American industrial advancement, a common early 20th-century advertising tactic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The birthplace of American liberty —Independence Hall, Philadelphia. | | Performance Proves | Their Case | | Watch a Goodyear Cord Tire travel and |! you have its secret. || _ Note the lack of labor in its progress—it || does not toil on the road. It covers ground buoyantly, in the easy | exercise of its powers—it is all energy and | spring, all athletic strength. The thousands of stout, pliant cords busy under its tough tread, give and take, flex | and recover, play in cushioned freedom un- der impact. Each of these cords, and each of the many layers \\| formed of them, is cradled in a lively bed of quick rubber. Blows of the road are softened, retarded, absorbed by resilience—wear is enforced by strength. You should have Goodyear Cords on your car— for comfort, for economy, for satisfaction. | They represent in usable form the sum of the world’s progress in tire-building. Their quality makes them higher-priced —and | better. Goodyear Tires, Heavy Tourist Tubes and'*Tire Saver" Accessories are easy toget from Goodyear Service Station Dealers everywhere. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio OODP YEAR KRON CORD TIRES comicbookeeteyin)