Life, 1926-08-12 · page 35 of 36
Life — August 12, 1926 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily **automobile advertising**, not political satire. The page promotes the Willys-Knight Great Six Sedan by featuring an endorsement from "Mrs. Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte," identified as wife of a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The "satire" is subtle social commentary: the advertisement mocks wealthy society matrons by suggesting that even the most exclusive, aristocratic women recognize the car's superiority. The phrase "A distinguished society matron records a motoring predilection" uses deliberately flowery language to parody how upper-class women discuss consumer choices. The endorsement quote—praising the car's power, quietness, and ease of handling—is framed as coming from someone of such elevated social status that her approval should convince other wealthy buyers. The photograph shows the elegant sedan near a classical mansion with well-dressed figures, reinforcing the "luxury for the elite" messaging. This reflects 1920s marketing strategy: using prominent society figures to validate consumer products for aspirational middle-class readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A distinguished society matron records a motoring predilection + The 1 world's clect comes to the CG IKE seeks like . . car-clect ... It is inevi- table that those who by birthright move in Amer- ica’s most select social orbits should join with our leaders in art and sci- ence, and with the Kings and Princes of the earth, in outspoken expressions of esteem for a motor-car as irre- Proschably beautiful, as exquisitely uxurious, as surpassingly efficient as the Willys-Knight Great Six Sedan. awry The Knight sleeve-valve engine—pat- cated, protected, exclusive. An engine you'll never wear out. The only auto- mobile engine in the world that actu- ally émproves with use... In this modern, extremely efficient mo- tor of the Willys-Knight Great Six Sedan, you have one of the great fea- tures responsible for the sale of more than 25,000 of these superb Sixes in the last 12 months—a sales gain of 62% in the first six months of this year. A success-record never before equaled in the same length of time, we believe, by any luxury car. MRS. JEROME NAPOLEON BONAPARTE —wife of theex-Assistant Secretary of the Navy ONT rre"'Such a feeling of power, yet so delight- fally quiet ¢¢7 As close to an ideal means of getting about quickly and comfortably as I can well conceive of +++ Certainly no woman could ask for a more charmingly appointed or more easily handled motor-car.”* wa With no carbon troubles, no valves to grind, the Willys-Knight Great Six Sedan cuts the customary up-keepcosts in two. At the same time it completely wipes out the frequent and always in- convenient lay-ups the carbon-clean- ing and valve-grinding nuisances neces- sitate in all cars of poppet-valve de- sign... 1tsengine requiring practically no adjustments, no repairs, in the Willys-Knight Great Six Sedan you have a car that stays out of the repair shop and in your service, uninterrupt- edly, day in and day out. Owner after owner will tell you that, throughout his entire period of ownership, he has never been without the use of his car, because of engine troubles, for a day or a single hour. ‘ a & 'S And for your added comfort and satisfaction Belflex Fabric Spring Shackles now replace the metal shackle used on other cars, Belflex —a noiseless, flexible, shock-absorb- ing rubberized fabric—takes up all vibration, keeps the chassis perma- nentlysilent and lessens wear at every part of the car. The new Willys Finance Plan means less money down, smaller monthly payments; and the lowest credit-cost in the industry. Willys-Knight Great Six models from $1750 to $2493 P.O. B. Factory. Wie reserve the right to change prices and specifications without motice, Wittys-Overtann, Inc., Toledo, Ohio Wittys-Overtanp Sates Co. Led., Toronto, Can, Wirtys-OventannCrosstzr Led., Stockport, Eng. WILLYS-KNIGHT Grea SIX “WITH AN ENGINE YOU'LL NEVER WEAR OUT” comicbooks.com