Life, 1919-07-10 · page 31 of 50
Life — July 10, 1919 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Goodyear Tire advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The page features a photograph of a busy Fifth Avenue in New York City with buses and pedestrians, used to showcase real-world conditions. The ad presents testimonial evidence from George A. Green, Chief Engineer of The Fifth Avenue Coach Co., documenting exceptional tire durability: one Goodyear Solid Tire delivered 100,123 miles of continuous service on a city bus enduring approximately 1,000 starts and stops daily. Two additional tires exceeded 99,000 miles. The advertisement's strategy is to prove tire quality through concrete performance data rather than mere claims. By citing a specific, verifiable achievement (a bus tire lasting close to three years while maintaining tread thickness), Goodyear establishes credibility and suggests their products are suitable for the demanding conditions of commercial urban transport. This represents early 20th-century corporate marketing emphasizing documented results and engineering expertise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ UR records show that a Goodyear Solid Tire on Bus Number 205 delivered 100,123 miles of continuous service. ian tented ue 4 & 4 » | i We have never heard of another mark as high as this. It is certainly creditable, since our service conditions thoroughly test truck tire stamina. Two more of our Goodyear Solid Tires may reach this fi re—have traveled in excess of 99,000 miles each, thus far.’’— George A. Green, Chief Engineer, The Fifth Avenue Coach Co., New York City PROBABLY the longest mileage attained to date by a rubber tire has been delivered by the Goodyear Solid Tire described in the statement quoted above. Yet observe that two other Goodyear Solid Tires in the same service are challenging this score, having recently passed the 99,000-mile mark. And then add the fact that a group of 43 Goodyear Solid Tires thus far has rolled up scores ranging from 25,000 to 80,000 miles for The Fifth Avenue Coach Company — demonstrating uniform ability to reach uncommon mileage figures. All 46 have had to withstand the strains resulting from Tue Goopyear Tire & Russer Company, Akron, OHIO about 1,000 starts and stops made per day by each Fifth Avenue Bus. The first-mentioned tire remained in this work close to three years, and yet at the end of the time its tread rubber was 1; inches thick. These facts and figures supplied by The Fifth Avenue Coach Company do more than contribute to the great mass of proof that bespeaks the powerful qualities of Goodyear Truck Tires. ‘They also focus important attention on the Goodyear methods of tire inspection and care adopted by this user and employed by hundreds of Goodyear ‘Truck Tire Service Stations spread over the continent.