Life — September 22, 1927 — page 39: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is primarily a **luxury automobile advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Packard cars through an aspirational marketing campaign. The central image shows a **1920s-era convertible automobile**, displayed prominently alongside period artwork depicting what appears to be **historical craftsmen or artisans** (the smaller images above). The advertisement's strategy compares Packard automobile manufacturing to **fine art and traditional craftsmanship**—suggesting that building a Packard requires the same skill, patience, and artistic mastery as creating valuable antiques (specifically mentioning "lacquered cabinets of the Orient"). The tagline **"Ask the Man Who Owns One"** was Packard's actual advertising slogan, positioning car ownership as a status symbol and marker of refined taste. For modern readers: this reflects early 20th-century luxury marketing that equated expensive consumer goods with fine art and cultural sophistication—a common approach targeting wealthy, educated consumers during the automobile industry's expansion.