Life, 1920-05-06 · page 9 of 56
Life — May 6, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features an advertisement for an early automobile, presented as satirical editorial content typical of *Life* magazine's style. The illustration shows a vintage car from approximately the 1910s-1920s era, depicted rotated 90 degrees on the page. The headline "A Peddler's Son" plays on social climbing—suggesting that someone of humble origins (a peddler's child) could now afford this modern luxury vehicle. The accompanying text highlights the car's features and benefits, emphasizing how automobiles represented newfound mobility and status for middle-class Americans. This reflects the era's fascination with automobiles as both practical transportation and status symbols, while *Life*'s satirical framing gently mocks the aspirational consumerism driving early car sales.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
\DYNAMIC AMERICA DEMANDS RESULTS APPERSO LESS BEAUTY THAT LASTS Apperson Motor Cars are of the type of beauty that lives through the years. Today's Apperson owners know there is no such thing as an Apperson “ going out of style.” And the Apperson’s beauty of per- formance is just as permanent. It gives perfect service over long periods of time, because it is the product of a true evolution in motor car building. The Apperson leaps to a 40-mile speed from one mile an hour, in high gear, in 20 seconds; brakes to a dead stop from 40-mile speed, in 40 yards —4 seconds; turns in a 38%-foot circle on its 130-inch wheel base; and has speed and power beyond any- thing you will ever require on road or hill. Drive an Apperson first— then decide. APPERSON Bros. AUTOMOBILE Co. Kokomo, INDIANA comicbooks.com