Life, 1927-09-01 · page 40 of 40
Life — September 1, 1927 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily an **automobile advertisement**, not satire. The illustration depicts an idealized leisure scene—well-dressed people relaxing by the shore near a Pierce-Arrow enclosed car—to market the vehicle as a luxury good for the refined and tasteful. The advertisement's messaging targets wealthy consumers by conflating car ownership with social class and good taste. It argues that truly cultivated people ("well-bred folk") prefer Pierce-Arrow because it embodies "simplicity" and avoids "ostentation"—a paradoxical pitch, since the car itself ($2,495–$8,000 in the 1920s) was an expensive luxury item. The satire is **unintentional**: the ad reveals how manufacturers marketed exclusivity to the aspirational wealthy by associating their products with refined aesthetics and restraint, when the fundamental message is actually about conspicuous consumption.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
body by Pierce-Arrow PIERCE-ARROW In every community there are people who love truly fine things. Their bomes are beautiful, not garish; they enjoy music, not noise; they dress becomingly, not ostentatiously. Such well-bred folk know and know well the charm and worth of simplicity. They express preference for Pierce- Arrow because they want simplic- ENCLOSED CARS 52495 TO*8O0O TERMS IF DESIRED ity; because they know that even in a mechanical sense simplicity, not complexity, is the only thing worth while. Their reward is en- during beauty; utter freedom from car rouble; and an economy in cost and maintenance that reflects good judgment. THe Pierce- Arrow Motor Car Company, Buffalo. N.Y. comicbooks.com