Life, 1917-09-13 · page 43 of 44
Life — September 13, 1917 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward automobile advertisement for Willys-Knight motor cars, published in *Life* magazine. The page promotes the Willys-Knight's "Sleeve Valve Motor," emphasizing its longevity and cost-efficiency. The argument is that while buyers don't directly pay per mile of service, the Willys-Knight's longer motor life represents exceptional value compared to competitors. The illustration shows a well-dressed chauffeur helping a woman and child into a Willys-Knight touring car, depicting the vehicle as reliable, family-safe, and respectable—typical marketing imagery of the 1920s era. There is no satire or political commentary here. This represents *Life*'s substantial advertising revenue from major manufacturers during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
: t t t V HAT YOU BUY ina motor car—after you are satistiec to its appear- ance and finish—is miles of service—and that depends on the life of the motor. If you paid on the basis of iles of service—you would pay much more for your Willys - Knight) compared with other cars. But though you don’t buy The Fours assenger Touring he Coupe Seven The Fights Seven Passenger Touring wy Sedan Sleeve Valve Motor Long-lived measured service in a motor car, that’s what you pay for in the end—so much per mile. And so the longer life of the Willys-Knight motor is just so much additional value— very real and sizeable amount if figured on a cost- per-mile basis. It rarely requires any adjust- ment whatsoever to keep it running at top efficiency. The accumulation of carbon, which necessitates the fr quent adjustment of every other type of motor, a tually improves the Willys Knight motor. It increases in power, smooth- ness, Hexibility and quiet- ness with use. So it continuously maintains and renews its high level of Willys-Overland Inc., Toledo, Ohio Willys-Knight and Overland Motor Cars efficiency for thousands of miles beyond the service of which any other type of motor is capable Summed up, the advantages of the Willys-Knight Motor are better service, more uni- form service, more constant service, longer service. See the’ Willys-Overland dealer today about your Willys-Nnight. __ se} comicbooks.com