Life, 1920-02-19 · page 7 of 48
Life — February 19, 1920 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **tire company advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Miller Tires of Akron, Ohio, using the headline "Not a Tire Came Back" to claim exceptional durability and quality control. The illustration shows two men examining a large tire—likely a salesman and customer—presenting the product as reliable. The ad emphasizes Miller's manufacturing rigor: testing methods, vulcanization processes, daily inspections, and detailed record-keeping. The "radical test" section boasts that Miller tires equipped buses running 153 miles daily carrying 12 passengers and 8,600 pounds of cargo, outperforming 21 competitor brands. This reflects early-20th-century advertising strategy: using technical superiority claims and detailed production practices to build consumer confidence in an industrial product.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Not a Tire Came Back” Some Remarkable Uniformity Records Buffalo reports that not a single Each tire is signed. A record Miller Tire has been returned de- is kept on it. If it ever comes fective. There the use is largely back, with a small or a great rec- on big cars and trucks, and Miller ord, we investigate the reason. ales are large. We test each batch of rubber, Green & Swett Co. of Boston so that varying types may be se- report 2,000 Millers sold in a year, lected to exactly meet require- and 13 returned for adjustment. ments. In Akron—our home town— Miller Tires dominate. A Radical Test The Eldorado Stage Co. of Los Angeles Factory Records run 17 Packard Buses 153 miles a day. Here records from everywhere They carry 12 passengers and weigh 8,600 pounds loaded. center. We find that more than Miller won in their road tests, by long 9 Miller Tires in 100 exceed ex- odds, against 21 rival makes. And in pected inileage. many other stage-line tests. Never one tire built under our new methods has come back with All tread stock is vulcanized ad gone. and tested daily in our laboratory, Cae before a tread is made. So treads Fighting Defects do not fall down. That uniformity, due to ten Geared-up machines in our fac- ears of study, is the chief of the tory run 16 tires 650 miles each Miller ; sccomplishments. perday. Wewearcut 1000 tires per Our constant effort is to always year to watch Miller uniformity. atch the best tires we produce. We spend $300 daily to test Mitler Tires GEARED-TO-THE-ROAD Registered U.S. Patent Office Cords or Fabrics precify Miller Tires on your To dealers we offer a rare tew car if it lacks them opportunity cord and fabric, so weakness can’t creep in there. Fifty experts inspect the fin- ished tires, and a fault very rarely gets by. A mistake is traced and the workman penalized. Compare Mileage You hear everywhere tales about Miller Tire mileage. See what you get on your car. Put another tire on the opposite wheel. See how Miller com- pares with the other Mileage varies with conditions—size, load, care and road. But, under like conditions Miller Tires will win you. And the records you make are de- pendable. When a tire makes the records that Mil- ler has made, you owe to yourself a test Tread Patented Center tread smooth, with suction cups to firmly grasp wet asphalt. Geared- to-the-Road side Treads, to mesh like cogs in dirt. THE MILLER RUBBER COMPANY * Akron, Ohio Makers of Miller Uniform Geared-to-the-Road Tires—Also Miller Red and Grey Inner Tubes—Team-Mates of Uni- form Tires~Makers also of Miller Surgeons Grade Rubber Goods for Homes as well as Hospitals. comicbooks.com