Life, 1918-05-09 · page 6 of 40
Life — May 9, 1918 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **White automobile advertisement**, not satire. It features a stylized illustration of a woman in 1920s dress admiring a White 16-Valve-4 sedan displayed in what appears to be a showroom or garage. The ad copy emphasizes the car's appeal to professionals valuing "personal efficiency"—targeting affluent, presumably educated women and businesspeople. The illustration style is typical of 1920s advertising art. There is **no political cartoon or satire here**. This is straightforward commercial advertising positioned in *Life* magazine, which regularly carried paid advertisements alongside its satirical editorial content. The "economic usefulness" rhetoric reflects period marketing focused on automobiles as tools for productive, modern living.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE White 16-Valve-4 is an example of the economic useful- ness of a fine motor car, in giving perfect service to a class whose per- sonal efficiency is important. THE WHITE COMPANY, Cleveland comicbooks Gang