Life, 1923-01-04 · page 37 of 44
Life — January 4, 1923 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **tire advertisement** for Kelly-Springfield Kant-Slip Cord tires, illustrated as a humorous scene rather than straightforward ad copy. The cartoon depicts a couple in a car descending a steep, rainy English hill (Parracombe Hill, Devon). The wife expresses worry about losing traction; the husband confidently assures her the car won't slip because he's using Kelly brand tires. The "joke" is the setup-and-payoff structure: anxiety about sliding brakes is immediately relieved by mentioning the product. The satirical element is subtle—it's gently mocking car-safety advertising conventions while selling tire reliability. The drawing's signature places it as artwork by Laurence Fellows, an English illustrator. The advertisement's claim—"It costs no more to buy a Kelly"—emphasizes the product's competitive pricing and practical value proposition to worried motorists of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
/ PARRACOMBE HILL* “Oh, Larry, do you think we can get down this wet hill without a smash?” “OF course we can, dear; I’ve put her in second, and with Kelly Cords under us we can’t slip.” HERE is no more sickening sensation than to feel ’ your car sliding after you have applied the brakes. The driver who rides on Kelly-Springfield Kant-Slip Cord tires does so with the comfortable assurance that he * Drawing by Laurence Fellows, Devonshire, England can depend not only upon their mileage but upon their surefootedness. It costs no more to buy a Kelly. comicbooks.com