Life, 1920-08-05 · page 40 of 48
Life — August 5, 1920 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **brake lining advertisement** disguised as safety advice. The headline "Is your car safe for a woman to drive?" uses sexism as a selling tool—it assumes women drivers are weaker and therefore need superior brakes more urgently than men. The accompanying photograph shows a car that has skidded or crashed, presumably illustrating brake failure. The chart demonstrates stopping distances at various speeds. The ad's strategy exploits early 20th-century gender anxieties: women's newfound automobile access created concerns about their physical capability. By framing brake safety as especially critical for female drivers, Thermoid Rubber Company positioned their product as protectively paternalistic while actually targeting all car owners' safety concerns. The page also contains book reviews and a restaurant advertisement, typical of *Life* magazine's mixed advertising and editorial content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Is your car safe for a woman to drive? HEN a speeding car darts out from a side street—or a heavy truck cuts sud- denly in front—will your brakes respond instantly to the lighter touch of a woman's foot? Your wife or daughter, when she takes out your car, nearly always asks whether the brakes are all right. She realizes that effective brakes are even more important for her than for you— because she lacks your strength. The chart at the right shows how quickly your car Should be able to stop. Haveyour brakes in- spected by your garage man at regular intervals, A brake lining with 40% more material By using 40% more material than in ordinary woven lining—by compressing this material un- der tremendous hydraulic pressure into a tight, close-textured mass—we have perfected a brake lining which wears down slowly, and maintains its gripping power even when worn as thin as cardboard. Brakes lined with Thermoid Hydraulic'Com- pressed Brake Lining never grab or slip. “They do not swell from dampness, because Thermoid is Grapnalized—an exclusive process which en- ables it to resist moisture, oil and gasoline. Because of its long-wearing qualisies and un- failing efficiency, the manufacturers of 50 of the leading cars and trucksare consistent purchasers of Thermoid. Don’t take any more chances with faulty brakes. Have your car brakes inspected regularly. Copyrighted 1919 by Thermoid Rubber Company This chart shows the distances in which a car should stop, at any given speed, if the brakes are efficient And next time you need new brake lining, be sure that you specify Thermoid. The new Thermoid book on automobile brakes is the most complete publication on the subject ever printed. It tells how to keep your car within safety limits. Sent free. Write today. Thermoid Rubber Compand Factory and Main Offices, Trenton, New Jersey New York Chicago San Francisco Detroit Atlanta Philadelphia Pittsburgh Boston, Clevelana London Paris = Turin Canadian Distributors The Canadian Fairbanks-Morse Co, Limited, Montreal Branches in all principal Canadian cities fhermoid Brake Lining Hydraulic Compressed Makers of “Thermoid-Hardy Universal Joints” and “Tacrmoid Crolide Compound Tires” The Latest Books (Continued from page 242) neither of which is so penctrating as to strengthen what has gone before. This is about his gauge: “ We have seen that the discovery of silver at Potosi, in 1545, led to Roosevelt becoming President of the United States in 1901; the two events occur three hundred and fifty-six years apart, yet their inter-relation un- doubted.” (Page 282.) Now, on the contrary, we had always supposed that the discovery of silver at Potosi, in 1545, was responsible for the defeat of William Jennings Bryan, in 1806. Margot's Progress, by Douglas Gold- ring. (Thomas Seltzer.) A Canadian girl sails for England, bound to marry a lord and a fortune. Oh, it’s all right enough, but personally we are sur- feited with this sort of thing, and wish the English wouldn't! Pink Gods and Blue Demons, by Cyn- thia Stockley. (George H. Doran Com- pany.) Short—you can read it in two ae 43rd and 44th Sts and Madison Ave. The Cascades Wn Y ; 19th Floor—Always Cool 4 Most unique dining room in New York. Beautiful deco- rations and lighting effects. The scene is the best hotel in South Africa, at Kimberley, and hours—but good. the theme is diamonds and human pas. sion. The perfect yarn for summer read- ing. Fiddler's Luck, by Robert Haver Schauffler. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) The amusing recital of an amateur's ex periences, largely at Plattsburg and i the A, F The Light Out of the East, by $ Crockett. (George H. Doran Comp An idea worthy of the early, romancing H. G. Wells—spoiled by crude handh Starts in a properly mystical key, lishes a mood and atmosphere, only (p: it with a raw interpolat ny.) 51) to destroy The theme (which may not be to many readers) is the choice of a sot of modern St. cis as Pope; his re- nunciation of all grandeur and flight from the Vatican to the hillsides of Apulia; an embroilment of nations as a cot quence, and the final transformat the carth as the result of this Secos Coming. “Barbarous Soviet Russia,” by 13x McBride. (Thomas Seltzer.) One h dred and fifty pages followed by one h dred and twenty pages of appendices. le first-hand account. Mr. Bride found Communist Russia by means unanimous except in defense of Russia's right to run her own a teresting, Clear Your. Ski Yourskin can be quickly cleared of Pimples Blackheads, Acne Eruptions on the face or be Enlarged Pores, Oily or Shiny Skin by a new treat ““66Clear-Tone” If you have any of the above Facial Blemishes, wrist FREE Booklet,“*A Clear-Tone Skin}? telling be) cured myself after being afflicted for 15 years a4 offer to send you @ bottle of “Clear-Tone” on & E. S. GIVENS, 226 Bidg., Kansas City, comicbooks.éon The law uni for the