Life, 1920-05-06 · page 42 of 56
Life — May 6, 1920 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not a cartoon or satire. It promotes the United States Rubber Company's new "Grainless" truck tire. The page shows an underside view of a solid truck tire and argues that this innovation solves a critical problem: old solid tires would split along the grain in the rubber, progressively spreading and shortening tire life. The new "Grainless" tire cannot split this way and wears uniformly. The text uses an analogy comparing truck owners' interest in better tires to "a sick man in health"—suggesting the need is urgent and obvious. It also references the air brake inventor's struggle to gain acceptance, implying that superior technology takes time to be recognized. There is **no satire or political commentary** here. This is straightforward early-20th-century industrial advertising emphasizing durability and progress in motor transportation technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: The new U.S. Grainles; IHE inventor of the air brake spent years in getting the people who needed it most to accept it. Motor transportation, developing so much faster than the railroads ever de- veloped, has set the truck owner thinking in advance of progress. When the United States Rubber Com- pany announced the creation of a solid truck tire that ended splitting and base separation, it found the truck owners of the country ready for it. Their interest in better tires is the in- terest of a sick man in health. The splits in the old type of solid re- from seeing leaps the grain. Every split shortened the life of the ti Working always toward better tires, tf United States Rubber Company creat the new UV. S. Grainless Rubber Tire. It cannot split. Cut it, and the cut stops where it sta It wears down uniformly throughout t life of the tire. To this great contribution to mot economy and efficiency the United Sta! Rubber Company added another. comicbooks.com