Life, 1919-10-09 · page 8 of 48
Life — October 9, 1919 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement, not political satire**. It promotes the "Weed Chain-Jack," a mechanical car jack manufactured by American Chain Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The illustration shows a man and woman (likely a couple) operating the jack beside an automobile with license plate 40-954. The ad emphasizes ease of use: "It works so easily that it's no trick at all for even the girls and children to operate it." The gendered language reflects early 20th-century marketing conventions—the ad's selling point is that the jack requires so little strength that women and children can manage it. The accompanying chain imagery and sizing chart promote various commercial applications. This is straightforward industrial advertising exploiting period gender stereotypes to highlight the product's user-friendliness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Jack for Jill Weed Chain-Jack It works so easily that it’s no trick at all for even the girls and chil- dren to operate it— Simply a few easy pulls on its chain lifts or lowers the heaviest car while you stand erect. Up or down—there’s no labor, To operate a Weed Chain-Jack it is not necessary to get down in acramped, Strained position and grovel in the mud, grease or dust under a car to work a “handle” that is apt to fly up with unpleasant results. To lift a car with the Weed Chain-Jack, simply give a few easy pulls on its endless chain while you stand erect—clear from springs, tire carriers and other projections, To lower a car pull the chain in opposite direction. Never gets out of order. Quickly adjusted to any required height by lifting the screw and spinning the corrugated “collar” shown in the illustration. Try it yourself—you will never be satisfied with any other jack. 10 Days’ Trial If your dealer does not have them, send $7.50 for any size for, pleasure cars or $15.00 for the ‘Truck size, and we will send you one, all charges prepaid. For delivery in Canada send $8.50 for any size for pleasure cars or $16.00 for the Truck size. Try it 10 days, if not satisfied return it to us and we will refund your money. tizes are made with an aaxil- iary step as illustrated, When in operative position thia step adds two inches to the helght of the jack. In Canada-DOMINION CHAIN CO.,Ltd., Niagara Falls, Ontario. LARGEST CHAIN MANUFACTURERS IN THE WORLD comicbooks.com|