Life, 1920-04-01 · page 55 of 60
Life — April 1, 1920 — page 55: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **United States Rubber Company advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The page addresses a social problem in early automotive culture: unscrupulous tire dealers who sold inferior or mismatched tires to naive motorists, profiting from ignorance. The narrative describes how early car owners would naively replace worn tires with whatever dealers recommended, treating tire failures as inevitable and humorous ("everybody laughed"). The ad criticizes "irresponsible tire dealers" who exploited this attitude by selling cheap, low-quality tires rather than quality products. The advertisement promotes a shift toward "better tires not more tires"—emphasizing quality over quantity and encouraging consumers to buy from legitimate dealers selling known, reliable brands. US Rubber positions itself as the ethical alternative: a company building fewer but superior tires and maintaining high standards. This reflects Progressive Era consumer-awareness messaging, appealing to motorists' growing sophistication about purchasing decisions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE JERY motorist remembers how it was with his first car. If he heard the slightest unfamiliar noise—a piston slap or a buzzing gear acreak in the body—it was a seri- matter. His friends were always eady with some helpful advice. But the only time his tires ever Then everybody laughed. The owner generally put on a new ire, paid his losses cheerfully and tied again, oe e@ For years the irresponsible tire aler traded on the good nature of American motorists. His idea of business was to sell a man two tires to replace an old one Ev ery timea tire is left standing ina puddle of water, the tiniest hole is likely to let enough water through to loosen the fabric, separating it from the tread and allowing sand and gravel, to work in. Go over your tires carefully every now and then and seal every cut or hole. and to console him with the thought that after all motoring is a great “game.” Even today not one motorist in five is getting what he is entitled to in tires. More and more the motorists of this country are learning that the remedy for high tire costs lies in better tires— not more tires. And that getting better tires means first of all going to the legitimate dealer—the man who sells the known article and does not attempt to sub- stitute the unnamed or the unknown for the sake of more profits. Since the beginning the United States Rubber Company has been looking forward to the time when motorists everywhere would come to quality in tires. Building more tires every year, but never more than it could build in conformity with the highest standard of quality. The responsible tire dealer never refers to his business as a game. It is a business proposition with him—and he knows the only way to make good in business is to make sure of the confidence of the motoring public. United States Tires United States @ Rubber Company Fifty-three factories MMO The oldest and largest Rubber Organization in the World TT Two hundred and thirty-five Branches comicbooks.com