Life — April 8, 1920 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a humorous cartoon about automobile tire failures. A man in a overcoat and fedora stands between a car with a blown-out Kelly-Springfield tire and a woman holding what appears to be a defective spare tire. The caption shows the woman (likely his wife) sarcastically chiding "Henry Wilson" for using profanity about the tire failure, then blaming him for cheapness—he bought an inferior tire when he had a Kelly-Springfield vehicle. The joke is that the man is trapped: he can't complain about the poor tire quality without admitting he purchased an inferior product. This advertisement-disguised-as-humor promotes Kelly-Springfield brand tires by humiliating owners of competing brands. The cartoon reflects 1920s consumer culture and the emerging importance of brand loyalty in automobile accessories.