Life, 1927-06-02 · page 39 of 46
Life — June 2, 1927 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an advertisement for the Sesamee brand combination padlock, not political satire. The cartoon illustrates the product's convenience by showing a humorous scenario: a motorist has forgotten his car keys and is stranded without a garage nearby—a common anxiety of the early automobile era. The joke's premise: "When is a spare not a spare? When you've forgotten the key and there's no garage in sight." The solution: use Sesamee's keyless combination lock instead, eliminating the problem of lost or forgotten keys. The ad emphasizes the lock's advantages—user-set combinations using memorable numbers (address, birthday, phone number)—and notes that major manufacturers were already adopting it for luggage, trunks, and office files. This represents early 20th-century marketing of a genuinely innovative security product to address a real consumer frustration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ND this padlock operates like all other Sesamee locks + Just flick the wheels to your own secret combination + Instantly the lock springs open as if by magic - And the wonderful part of it is, you select and set the combination your- self + merely by pressing a small button and turning the wheels to numbers that stick by you, closer than keys + your street address + birthday + telephone number + invent your own + Your combination opens everything you have> equipped with Sesamee +It works just as easily in thedark. THE SESAMEE COMPANY When is a spare not a spare? When you're forgotten the key and there's no garage in sight, @ @ PADLOCK @ ¢ YOU WILL FEEL SAFER WHEN YoU MAVE DISCARDED THE KEYS TO YOUR GOLF RAG, GARAGE, LOCKER, SPARE THK, CELLARETTE, KIC. SESAMEE PADLOCKS ARE MADE IN THREL CONVENIENT SIZES, GUARANTERD RUST-PROOP, PRIcKS $5.75 To £4.50. + + Already these forward-looking manufac- turers see the end of keys and keyholes + They have adopted Sesamee + John Boyle and Warren on hand luggage, Wheary and Winship on trunks, and Rand Kardex Bureau have made it standard on Kardex visible office files + Sesamee padlocks can be purchased at the better luggage, men’s furnishings, sporting goods, and department stores. Sesamee is being developed to replace key locks for doors, furniture, various types of automobile locks, and other uses, HARTFORD CONNECTICUT comicbooks.com