Life, 1919-02-27 · page 6 of 38
Life — February 27, 1919 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **primarily an advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It's a 1920s-era ad for Weed Tire Chains, manufactured by American Chain Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The advertisement uses a dramatic safety narrative: an illustration shows a car with two occupants approaching pedestrians in rain on what appears to be a slippery road. The headline claims "Weed Tire Chains Saved Their Lives," arguing that without tire chains, brakes alone would have been insufficient to prevent an accident. The ad emphasizes that tire chains provide essential traction on wet or icy roads—a genuine safety concern before modern tire technology. It's a straightforward product advertisement exploiting contemporary automotive safety anxieties, not satirical content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘TIRE CHAINS SAVED THEIR LIvVEs Without tire chains, the brakes would have been useless— with brakes alone, disaster could not have been prevented. The above picture illustrates one of the numerous situations in which you may be placed during bad road weather—when suddenly some one appears directly in your path and, ina fraction of a second, you must apply your brakes and bring your car to.n quick stop. It is then you require a firm, unfailing grip on the road which can only be obtained by equipping all four tires with WEED TIRE CHAINS Cars with Chainless tires on wet, greasy, slippery pavements lack brake power to the same degree as they would if their brake linings were made of wet, greasy, slippery bands of rubber, Tire Chains are the most effective supplementary addition to brake power—in fact, brake efficiency is -ar, dependent upon the use of chains. * Good B k d No matter how expert and careful you are when driving on wet pavements and Oo! vares an muddy roads, the treacherous bare tires defeat your very best efforts tw pre- Weed Tire Chains vent a skid or bring your car safely to a sudden stop. together— The memory of one accident spoils future enjoymentin the use of a car so don’t ran the risk of such accidents, Don’t forever forfeit the pleasures and comforts of motoring. Safety Pepe rieds ihe and confidence can surely be yours by equipping all four tires with Weed Chains. or in Preventing motor AMERICAN CHAIN COMPANY, INC. accidents, pripceort \e/ CONNECTICUT In Canada: Dominion Chain Company, Limited, Niagara Falls, Ontario Largest Chain Manufacturers in the World ‘The Compiete Chain Line—All Types, All Sizes, All Finishes—From Piumbers’ Safety Chain to Ships’ Anchor Chain comicbooks.com