Life, 1920-05-06 · page 47 of 56
Life — May 6, 1920 — page 47: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**, but rather a straightforward automobile advertisement from Life magazine's advertising section (page 859). The Columbia Motor Car Company promotes their "Six" model by positioning it as superior in "critical moments"—emergency driving situations like sudden stops, steep grades, and sharp curves. The ad emphasizes practical engineering features: larger brake drums (14 inches vs. 12), automatic radiator shutters for temperature control, and suspension systems that perform under stress. The rhetoric frames car quality not by luxury or prestige, but by reliability during dangerous conditions—a selling point relevant to early automotive buyers concerned with safety and performance. The accompanying photograph shows a modest, open-air touring car typical of the 1910s-1920s era. The tagline "Gem of the Highway" reinforces the quality message. This reflects a period when automobiles were still relatively new, and manufacturers competed partly on engineering credentials.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Car for the Critical Moment It is the critical moment that searches beneath the surface and discovers the real stuff of which cither a man or a egr is made With the high-grade parts, the expert workmen, and the immense amount of data today available to all manufacturers, it is no great credit to build acar which performs well under average conditions The real difference in cars today is the way they act in those critical, some times dangerous tests familiar to every driver—such as abrupt stops, steep grades, sharp bumps and curves. The extra two inches of brake drum—1y4 inches instead of 12—and easy brake action on a Columbia are no small matters when a sudden stop is imperative The automatic radiator shutters assume vital importance to a Columbis Six owner when he discovers that even a fifty-degree rise or fall in tem perature does not impair in the slightest the smooth, even flow of power The Columbia Six Four-Passenger from the motor. Sport Model—Wire Wheel Equipped : Phe same holds true with the non-synchronizing spring suspension and numerous features of similar importance Phese are but examples of the experiences which soon establish a supreme confidence that make Columbia ownership a lasting pleasure er Roadster ager eure COLUMBIA MOTOR CAR COMPANY an bel , a ssenger Touring Sedan DETROIT, U. S.A ne corns, AL Gem of the Ligh way _ comicbooks.com