Life, 1917-10-11 · page 6 of 40
Life — October 11, 1917 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising, not satire or editorial content**. It's a White Company truck advertisement from Cleveland disguised as business advice. The ad uses **WWI-era labor anxiety** as its sales pitch. The headline warns small business owners that young men will be drafted for military service, creating a labor shortage. The solution: replace human workers with White trucks for delivery services. The illustration shows delivery trucks laden with cargo in an urban setting with skyscrapers visible. The text exploits genuine **wartime concerns**—immigration restrictions, military conscription, and labor shortages—to convince manufacturers and merchants that motorized trucks aren't luxuries but necessities to maintain productivity when workers unavailable. This is **propaganda-style advertising**, leveraging patriotic anxiety to drive commercial sales.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
= . SS PROTECT your BUSINESS now against LOSS of MAN POWER HE most serious problem con- fronting business today is short- age of labor. Millions of young men may be called to the colors. Other millions will be needed to produce munitions and material of war. Immigration has stopped. Many con- cerns may run short of necessary labor, unless they take steps to protect themselves now. Big Business is farsighted. It is installing and utilizing to the utmost every mechanical device which will take the place of horses and men. In delivery service, motor trucks do the work. It is the small business man, manufacturer or merchant who may be caught napping when the ‘‘help” crisis comes. If he still employs teams and drivers, he may find his business seriously hampered. The concern which employs two or more vehicles for delivery service may be menacing its future if it does not use trucks. All business is entering upon a period of war stress and strain. Profits will be lower and volume much higher. The former will be taxed; the latter is always a war time condition. It is so in England; it will be so in this country. The efficiency, speed, steadiness and economy of mechanical power and transportation must supplement or supplant the human factor. WHITE TRUCKS Wherever efficiency, speed, steadiness and economy are most needed, White Trucks are to be found. Their predominant use by Big Busi- ness is well known. Where standardized cost records are kept, White Trucks are purchased increasingly. Their long life, low maintenance and steady operation show unmistakably in figures. The harder the work and the heavier the going, the more marked is this showing. The White Company has had broad experience in truck installation and in the problems of transport, for big operations and «for little operations. Our service and counsel are yours for the asking, without cost or obligation on your part. We never urge an installation which does not promise profit to the owner. THE WHITE COMPANY, Cleveland comicbooks Gai