Life, 1920-07-15 · page 38 of 40
Life — July 15, 1920 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes the Macbeth Green Visor Lens, an automobile headlight accessory from the 1920s era. The illustration shows a vintage car with an oversized green visor lens mounted above it. The ad appeals to class consciousness and social responsibility: owning this lens supposedly marks one as a "gentleman" motorist who prioritizes safety for fellow drivers, not just personal distinction. The humor is subtle and period-specific: the ad conflates automotive safety equipment with social status and gentlemanly conduct. The green visor itself was a practical automotive innovation (using prisms to direct light downward), but the marketing emphasizes it as a status symbol—whether on a "$15,000 road emperor" (luxury car) or cheaper motor. There's gentle satire in equating an auto accessory with moral character: the lens "marks a motorist considerate of his fellows." For a modern reader, this represents early automotive advertising's tendency to sell practical products by wrapping them in aspirational social messaging.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Macbeth Green Visor Lens Distinguished! The Macbeth is distinguished by both its users and its use- fulness. Whether adding the final touch of distinction to a $15,000 road emperor, or dressing up a less expensive motor, the green visor marks a gentleman’s car. It marks a motorist considerate of his fellows! Considerate of their safety and comfort as well as his own. The Macbeth permits no daz- zling rays and no weak waste of light. The five horizontal prisms scientifically redirect all upward rays down in far reach- ing concentrated brilliance on the road. Four vertical cylin- drical prisms spread the light uniformly. The Macbeth prin ciple is the U. S. Navy’s choice. It should be yours. Mark your car with the green visom—signal of safety and courtesy. Price per pair $5.25—Denver and West $5.75—Canada $6—Winnipeg and West $6.50 MACBETH-EVANS GLASS COMPANY, Pittsburgh Branch Offices in: Boston: Buffalo; Chicago; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; San Francisco, Macbeth-Evans Glass Company, Limited, Toronto, Canada