Life, 1919-03-13 · page 33 of 42
Life — March 13, 1919 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement** for the Franklin Automobile Company, not political satire. The page promotes the Franklin car's mechanical superiority—particularly its air-cooled engine (stripped of 177 water-cooling parts), fuel efficiency (20 miles per gallon), and tire longevity (10,000 miles per set). The cartoon illustrates the car's practical appeal: a well-dressed woman and men in formal attire examine or ride in the vehicle, suggesting it's suitable for professional and genteel uses. The testimonial from "a doctor owner" references the 1918 influenza epidemic, positioning the car as reliable transportation during demanding circumstances. This grounds the advertisement in contemporary reality—the pandemic was current when this appeared—making reliability claims feel authentic rather than merely promotional. The satire, if any, is subtle: the ad subtly mocks competitors' cars by implication rather than direct attack.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE FRANKLIN CAR PRODUCT of superior quality—fine in structure, fine in appearance and fine in action-—it embodies sim- plicity and endurance. To all who consider ease and safety of handling, comfort and economy, it stands alone. Stripped of 177 non-essential parts incident to water-cooling, and unnecessary weight, it gives a service unequalled in the tine car class. The Franklin Car is,equally useful summer or winter—no water to boil or freeze; equally at home on smooth streets or on rough roads. And it gives to owners consistent records of: 20 miles to the gallon of gasoline—instead of 10 10,000 miles to the set of tires—instead of 5,000 50% slower depreciation than in any other fine car. FRANKLIN AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, SYRACUSE, N.Y. What a Doctor Owner Recently Had to Say: ts ease of mani: valities h. g hours which my. p quires, This was especially apparent during the hard work I recently went through in the influenza epidemic.” comicbooks.com