Life, 1919-04-17 · page 3 of 46
Life — April 17, 1919 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Kelly Cord tire advertisement**, not satire. The text uses a humorous metaphor comparing a good reputation ("good-will") to a product that must be rigorously tested before public release. The company emphasizes that Kelly Cords "had to be right" and they "simply couldn't afford to make a mistake." The advertisement features an illustration of a smiling woman posing with a truck tire, accompanied by the slogan "Keep Smiling with Kelly's." The imagery reflects 1920s marketing aesthetics, using an attractive female figure to promote automotive products—a common advertising convention of that era. This is straightforward commercial messaging emphasizing product reliability and quality control, not political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
““NOOD-WILL, like a good name, is got by many actions and lost by one.’’ Kelly Cords, before they were offered to the public, were made to undergo tests that would have, figuratively speaking, made an ordinary truck tire holler for help. The Kelly Cord had to be right. We simply couldn’t afford to make a mistake.