Life, 1920-03-25 · page 39 of 40
Life — March 25, 1920 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Pierce-Arrow automobile advertisement**, not a political cartoon. It appears in *Life* magazine's advertising section. The page promotes the Pierce-Arrow motor car through aspirational imagery: a vintage touring car positioned dramatically beneath towering cliffs and clouds, suggesting power, reliability, and impressive performance. The accompanying text emphasizes technical advances—responsive gears, instant control, and steady progress toward "perfection"—appealing to early 20th-century automotive buyers who valued engineering innovation. The phrase "more power than one dares use for speed" suggests safety and restraint alongside capability. This reflects the era when automobiles were luxury goods marketed to affluent drivers, emphasizing mechanical sophistication rather than mass-market affordability. The Buffalo, New York company location anchors this as period advertising for a real manufacturer.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE performance of the steady progress towards an ideal of Pierce-Arrow today will amaze any perfection. There is more power driver who has not been at its wheel than one dares use for speed. Silently so recently as to know the newest de- responsive gears give instant response velopments in the Pierce-Arrow’s and perfection of control. THE PIERCE-ARROW MOTOR CAR COMPANY Buffalo New York comicbooks.com