Life, 1923-04-26 · page 29 of 36
Life — April 26, 1923 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **1923 advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Royal Cord tires (made by United States Tire Co.) to readers of *Life* magazine. The ad uses a humble-boasting approach: Royal Cords are "leaders of the industry" but claim unpretentious business practices. Key sales points include: - **Honesty over hype**: They avoid exaggerated mileage claims and testimonials that "might sound extravagant" - **Consistent pricing**: No discount sales that confuse consumers about true value - **Customer confidence**: Success comes from trust, not flashy marketing - **Quality assurance**: "Good, clean money's worth" The large tire image at top serves as product display. The tagline "Buy one Royal Cord—try it on the right hind wheel" suggests testing one tire before buying a full set. The *approach* reflects 1920s marketing philosophy: in an era of growing consumer skepticism about advertising claims, positioning a market leader as straightforward and dignified was itself a sales strategy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
How it feels to be the leader of the tire business "THERE was a time when the bigger a busi- ness grew the more “uppish” it got. These days are over—praise be! The makers of Royal Cords are the leaders of the industry, but they don’t feel it any loss of dignity to reach out for new friends. And they take the very simple way of just asking you to try one Royal Cord. All the U.S. Royal Cord policies are simple. For instance, Royal Cords have never talked about exceptional mileages. There are hundreds of testimonial letters in the files but they might sound extravagant and misleading to people and that is not a good thing, Yet the makers of Royal Cords believe that Royals deliver the greatest average mileage of any tire that was ever made. This seems to be proven by the confidence car owners have in these tires. Royal Cords have never been sold at “big discounts” or featured in “sales”. People can’t tell what a tire is actually worth ifit sells for all kinds of prices in different sections of the country. The support Royal Cords are getting today . from so many new users is the outcome of people \\ feeling confidence and trusting the Royal Cord ‘When you put Royal Cords on your car you are going to be satisfied. You will see what a good, clean money’s worth they are. United States Tires are Good Tires ©1923 United States Tire Co., New York City comicbooks.com