Life, 1921-08-11 · page 31 of 40
Life — August 11, 1921 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **car advertisement for the Templar Motors Company**, not a political cartoon. The page uses an extended metaphor comparing technological progress. **The Core Argument:** The ad opens with a grandfather's antique Swiss watch—once a prized possession, now merely a curiosity because watchmaking has advanced. The piece then applies this logic to automobiles: just as no one wants cumbersome key-winder watches anymore, outdated car designs (steamers from 1901, hand-crank starters, massive "Grand Mogul" luxury cars) are obsolete. **The Sales Pitch:** Modern times demand efficiency and practicality. The Templar embodies this new standard: it holds distance records, achieves excellent fuel economy (26.66 mpg), navigates city traffic easily, reaches 55-60 mph, and costs a reasonable $2,385 ($3,185 for closed models). **Social Context:** This reflects the 1920s transition from mechanical complexity to user-friendly efficiency. The ad targets educated buyers who appreciate engineering merit over ostentatious luxury—"men and women who are familiar with the highest of automobile merits." The satirical framing isn't about mocking anyone but using gentle obsolescence humor to position the Templar as the inevitable modern choice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Yesterdays (ar Vas Good, But— RANDFATHER’S watch was a key-winder, with a beautifully-made im- ported Swiss movement, protected by a case thick enough to stop a bullet. And it weighed a ton! That watch was a rich and admired possession—in its day. Grand- SSS father was ever so proud of it. Even now it tells time fairly well. Yet it is kept not as a timepiece but only as a curiosity—because watchmaking skill has advanced and taste in watches has changed. Nobody to-day wants a key-winder. Nobody likes to carry excess baggage. To-day Demands More O-DAY we measure time with graceful, easy-to-carry watches that outclass grandfather's bulky watch completely. And the same thing that happened to watches is happening to ma- chines of every kind. The clumsy goes into the discard. To-day demands high efficiency—better results, with less trouble and less expense to get them. That’s true, isn’t it? These RIGINALLY any motor car able to run at all was a big success. > In 1901, the world’s best moto: s Wi Ss: wi P ; eAre Gone 3 901, tl s best motor cars were steamers ; w here are they today? Your early gasoline car would not start at all unless you had a muscular cranking arm. To-day, self-starters. Times change: cars are different and better. All the motor-car honors at first went to the ponderous Grand Mogul cars: You had no “class” unless you owned one. But to-day the solid merits that make cars emphatically good are no longer monopolized by the giants, chauffeur-driven. Two HE classic long-distance test in America is New York to Los Ange- Great les—3424 miles. The record of 4 days, 5 hours, 43 minutes run- : ning time proves both speed and endurance—no doubt about that. And Records this classic record is held by an 18-43 H. P. four-cylinder car—of 118 inch wheel base. Time and cars have changed. Recently in the Los Angeles-Yosemite economy run, through mud and snowstorm, the best record for cars of all makes and sizes was 15 gallons of gasoline for 400 miles—an average of 26.66 miles per gallon. That is economy! And this economy winner was the same athletic car that holds the New York-Los Angeles record. Its name is Templar. To-day’ s ITY traffic grows thicker and parking spaces harder to find. Cars Thick are needed that get in and out easily—that step off briskly—that do not block traffic. | Traffic More than this, a good car must be good all around—must show speed t of 55 to 60 miles an hour, because when you do need speed you need it badly. Templar meets these needs of traffic, of easy handling, of speed whenever you want it. Templar is purposely built for men and women who are familiar with the highest of automobile merits and will not accept less. The (ar OT an inch too long, not an inch too short, sturdy but not clumsy, for To-day 4 able to turn around in 38 feet, powered with a motor full of life, o-day casy to drive, easy to ride in, easy to admire, low in running expense—a car you will heartily enjoy—a smart car with 1922 written all over it that's Templar, the superfine car. Costs but $2385—closed models at $3185 Let's get acquainted. We shall be glad to send you the name of the Templar dealer nearest you The Templar Motors Company, 2200 Halstead Street, Cleveland. comicbooks.com