Life — February 20, 1919 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is **not a cartoon or satire page** — it's a straightforward advertisement for the Packard Motor Car Company, published in *Life* magazine (page 278). The ad announces that Packard is resuming civilian car production after World War I, having previously devoted manufacturing to war work. The company emphasizes quality control, noting they possess six million dollars' worth of finished parts enabling smooth production restart. Key selling points include: stable pricing (no wartime inflation), superior quality (particularly their famous Twelve-Cylinder Engine), and reliability. The tagline "Ask the Man Who Owns One" was apparently Packard's actual marketing slogan. This reflects post-WWI economic conditions when manufacturers pivoted back to consumer goods.