Life, 1920-03-04 · page 7 of 78
Life — March 4, 1920 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Waltham Watch advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The page shows technical diagrams of watch bearings—comparing the "Waltham Scientific Jeweled Main Wheel Bearings" against "Unscientific Main Wheel Bearings." The ad uses a common early-20th-century marketing strategy: depicting a product's mechanical superiority through scientific comparison. The text explains that Waltham bearings contain jewels and superior materials, reducing friction and wear compared to inferior designs. A pocket watch illustration (The Riverside model, priced "$575 and up") appears on the left. The slogan "The World's Watch Over Time" emphasizes reliability and precision—key selling points for watches in this era when accurate timekeeping was commercially important. This is straightforward product advertising with no satirical content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Riverside dependable moderate watch in the world $75 and up Waltham Scientific “ Jeweled Main Wheel Bearings” that Mean So Much to You in Time-keeping Accuracy any machine must have a_ bearing, and the freedom of that movement depends upon the scientific development of that bearing. This is true ot an oxcart, the Liberty Motor, or a watch. The Waltham Watch Bearings are the most scientifi- cally developed bearings in the realm of mechani Fo: mechanically moving unit of The time-keeping performance of a good watch starts at its power plant, the mainspring. And it is an axiom of mechanics that the greatest friction is at the point where the power is the greatest. That watch is the best watch where the resisting fac- tor of friction is the least prevalent. Look at the two illustrations in this advertisement. Here are portrayed sectional views of the Waltham scientific jeweled main wheel bearings and also of the unjeweled bearing method. You will note that in the unjeweled bearing the shaft or barrel arbor is running in a hole drilled through the barrel container. This supplics only a bearing of brass for the rotation of the steel arbor, causing a greater resistance to the power of the mainspring, vari- able time-keeping, and eventually becomes charged with gritty particles that destroy the highly polished surface of the shaft or barrel arbor. Whereas in the Waltham scientifically jeweled main wheel bearings we sce developed a beating composed of two highly polished sapphire jewels which are so set in the barrel that the superbly finished steel arbor rotates in them, distributing the power of the main- spring to the train with an irreducible minimum of friction. This is not all. Every Waltham mainspring is contained in a specially hardened and ground steel barrel which protects the “works” if the mainspring should break. This exclusive Wal- tham feature also provides more room for a longer mainspring, consequently the motive power is better distributed and a more even time-keeping performance is assured. It is these little things, yet vitally important, hidden in the “works of the watch that provide unanswerable argument why your watch selection should be a Waltham. This story is continued in a beautiful booklet in which you will find a liberal watch education. Sent free upon request. Waltham Watch Company, Waltham, Mass. ALTHAM THE WORLD'S WATCH OVER TIME comicbooks.com