Life, 1920-09-02 · page 2 of 52
Life — September 2, 1920 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or political commentary**—it's a straightforward product advertisement for Michelin full-size inner tubes, likely from the early 1900s. The ad compares Michelin tubes (shown filling the tire casing evenly) against unnamed competitor tubes (which must stretch to fit). The Michelin mascot, Bibendum (the rotund character pointing), endorses the product. The key sales pitch: stretched tubes generate destructive heat during inflation, weakening rubber and making it brittle and puncture-prone. Michelin's full-size tubes avoid this problem. The visual diagrams—cross-sections showing even versus stretched tube profiles—function as technical proof rather than cartoon humor. This represents early automotive advertising emphasizing engineering superiority.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Actual phetosraph ference in width between Michelin Tubes and other tubes ‘Michelin Ring-shaped Tubes are made full-size to fill the cas- ing. Therefore they are not subjected to tension when inflated. Other tubes being smaller than the inside of the casing are stretched and weakened under inflation. The flexing of these stretched tubes causes destructive heat- ing which rapidly kills all the natural life and resiliency of the rubber, making it brittle, porous and less resistant to cuts and punctures. Insist on Michelins— the full-sized tubes. Michelin Tubes fill the casing ‘ ‘ must be stretched by even before inflation inflation to fill the casing Michelin Tire Company, Milltown, New Jersey Other factories: Clermont-Ferrand, France; London, England; Turin, Italy. Dealers in all parts of the world