Life, 1920-07-22 · page 2 of 40
Life — July 22, 1920 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement** for United States Rubber Company's tires, disguised as editorial commentary. The headline satirizes consumer decision-making: opinions about tires should be "weighed as well as counted"—meaning quality matters more than popularity. The accompanying photograph shows what appears to be a tire inspection or sales demonstration, with men examining tires on a vehicle. The ad argues that motorists choosing second-choice tires due to "forced production" inconsistent with U.S. Standard quality are making poor decisions. It criticizes purchasing based on "crowd of buyers" popularity rather than actual tire performance. The piece essentially claims U.S. Tires prioritizes quality over volume—a competitive pitch against rival manufacturers during an era of expanding automobile ownership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Opinions about Tires should be i Weighed as well as Counted SQL oa | iy HERE is hardly a mo- torist who hasn’t at some time or other in his experience had a tire dealer attempt to sell him a tire by representing it as the fastest seller in town. More attempts are prob- ably made to sell tires by playing to the motorist’s al- leged weakness for “crowd of buyers” than by any other known method of selling. * * * The experienced motorist, of course, refuses to surrender his individual judgmentto any crowd or mass of whatever size. The tire on the left illustrates the cause of about 15 percent of all tire trouble—insuficient inf ' fotlow—and it he tire or regular use of a reliable air isthe best safeguard aeainst paactures, rim cutting and fabric breakdown. ———5 Too often he has seen the re- sults of accepting opinions at their face value, without first finding out what they are based on. And you will find him going more and more to the dealer who has something to offer in support of his tires other than “crowds of buyers” and “num- bers of sales.” * * *€ The opinion in favor of U.S. Tires is not based solely on the number of them in use. Great as that number is, it is due to something besides clever arguments. Entered as Second Class Matter June &, 1883, at the Post fhe at New Yi NOY 1¢ act of March Si. 1 Entered as Second ie! ar, Ve .. Thousands of motorists today are putting up with second choice tires because forced production is inconsistent with U. S. Standard of quality. The United States Rubber Com- pany’s enormous investment — greater than that of any concern in the industry—has always been aimed solely at quality. Building a fire first and a mar- ket afterwards. Thinking of the individual user instead of the num- ber of sales, One of the reasons, perhaps, why there is now a scarcity of U.S. Tires ** * * If the time ever comes when U. S. Tires can be supplied to all, or nearly all, of the people who want them, they will still have more to recommend them than mercly the largest following. United States Tires United States @) Rubber Company Fifty-three The oldest and largest Two-hundred and Factories Rubber Organization in the World thirty-five Branches comicbooks eu