Life, 1920-09-09 · page 34 of 44
Life — September 9, 1920 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising content** from around 1919, centered on a Thermoid Brake Lining advertisement. The main "cartoon" element is actually a safety PSA about automobile brakes. **The Social Context:** The ad addresses early automotive anxiety—brake failure on steep hills was a genuine safety concern. The accompanying chart shows stopping distances at various speeds, emphasizing that drivers should regularly inspect brakes rather than gamble with lives. **The Satire:** The smaller text piece "It Is Not" uses gentle irony: it compares wartime/postwar scarcity (coal rationing, sugar hoarding) to suggest people once laughed at such deprivation. It questions whether future abundance will seem equally absurd—a commentary on postwar economic uncertainty and shifting values. **The Poetry:** "Ballade of Returning Pleasure Seekers" romanticizes tourists returning to cities after summer vacations, contrasting natural beauty ("mountain ways," "golden haze") with urban attractions ("the Avenue"). The page reflects 1920s concerns: automobile safety, economic instability following WWI, and leisure culture's growing importance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Are you dead sure of your brakes at a time like this? NN the long grade down—when you have to stop shiort in the middle of a hill—Will your brakes hold? burn out? Who hasn't felt the uncertainty? It’s only in moments like these that you fully realize the importance of brakes that never fail. Don't wait for an emergency to show whether of not your brakes are working right. ‘The chart at the right shows how quickly you should be able to stop. Have your brakes inspected reg- ularly by your garage man. If they do hold, will they A brake lining with 40% more material To insure efficient brake action always, a brake lining has been perfected which wears down slowly and maintains its gripping power even when worn as thin as cardboard. In each square ‘inch of Thermoid Hydraulic Compressed Brake Lining there is 40% more material than in ordinary lining. Thermoid is also Grapnalized —an exclusive process which enables it to resist moisture, oil and gasoline. Brakes lined with Thermoid do not grab, slip or swell from dampness. Because of its wearing qualities and unfailing efficiency, the manufactur- ers of 50 of the leading carsand trucks are con- sistent purchasers of Thermoid. Copyrighted 1919 hy Therimvid Rudder Company This chart has been worked out by leading automobile engineers. It shows how quickly an automobile going at various speeds should be able to stop, provided the brakes are efficient, Don't take any more chances with faulty brakes. Have your brakes inspected regularly. And next time you need new brake lining, be sure to specify Thermoid. The new seventy-page Thermoid book on automobile nd bi is the most complete publication on your car wituin safety limits. Sentfree. Write to-day. ermoid Rubber Compan Factory and Main Offices, Trenton, New Jersey New York Chicago San Francisco Atlanta Cleveland Detroit Philadelphia Pittsburgh Boston London Paris. Canadian Distributors: The Canadian Fairbanks-Mor: Limited, Montreal Branches in all principal Canadian Cities fhermord Brake Lining Hydraulic Compressed Makers of “Thermoid-Hardy Universal J. It Is Not UPPOSE somebody had told you ten years ago that some day you would humiliate yourself, scheme, coax, threaten, cajole, worry, and lose sleep over coal. You would have laughed at him, wouldn't you? And suppose somebody had told your wife, when she was buying twenty-one pounds of sugar for one dollar, that some day she would skimp, contrive and plan to make a pound last after paying th "and “Thermoid Crolide Compound Tires” cents for it. She would have laughed, too, wouldn't she? So is it any wonder that people laugh now when they are told that some day in the future they will be able to buy these things without humiliation or difficulty and at a fair price? Query I it not well to have enough vices to keep us from being a menace to so- ty? ciety? Ballade of Returning Pleasure Seekers ACK from beaches by curving bays Where spindrift tosses its snowy hue, We have come for the autu Ah, but the glint of the Avent How it seems to shimmer With trappings, as never it before! Seeking still for the pleasure-clue, We have turned to the town once more. Back from hills and the mountain ways Where steep trails climb to the sky’s deep blue. (Hung with its veil of golden haze, Ah, but the glint of the Avenue!) Back from joys that were not a few— The summer moon with its dreamy lore, And mornings fresh with the fall of dew, We have turned to the town once more, Back to the opera, back to the plays That soon will be on the boards in view; Back to Fashion and all its maze. (Ah, but the glint of the Avenue!) Back to worry, and back to woo— Belles and bachelors many a score— Back to join in Life's gay frou-frou, We have turned to the town once more. Envoy Back to one who is fond and true. (Ah, but the glint of the Avenue!) Back to you whom I so adore, I have turned to the town once more! Clinton Scollard. HE OPTIMIST: round here, Tue Pessimis sible for it. Beautiful country isn't it? : Well, I'm not respoa- 6 BeLvans Hot water fiving and holding qual ‘superior to all other brands... to you tohave aay your ad will bold under the severest The Capewell Horse Nail Co., Hartford, Cons To comicbooks.@onl