Life, 1928-01-12 · page 7 of 39
Life — January 12, 1928 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes automobile salesmen and early car culture (appears to be 1920s era based on vehicle styles). The top illustration shows a chauffeur and wealthy woman (Mrs. Ritz-Ritz) with their automobile, establishing an upper-class setting. The main article, "The Automobile Salesman Goes Sane," mocks car salesmen's exaggerated claims and deceptive practices. The salesman boasts about features while acknowledging the car has serious problems—doors that won't close properly, faulty door handles, worn upholstery, and a malfunctioning cigar lighter. The humor lies in his admission that he cannot "guarantee anything" while still pushing the sale. The illustration "A Nice Paint Job" and the sidebar "They Usually Are" further ridicule how salesmen exploit cosmetic improvements to mask mechanical failures, reflecting public skepticism about early automotive commerce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Craurreur: We're inside the city limits now, madam. Mrs, Ritz-Ritz: Very good, William, We'll stop here and wait for Harris with the town car, The Automobile Salesman Goes Sane “WVHAT was I yes, madam, those door handles are solid lead—see how they smudge your gloves?...N something I'd like you to notice. These fenders, You see you can fold the edges right up by taking them between the thumb and forefinger. And notice how the paint flakes off when you do it... .That rear-seat up- holstery is made of old police blot- ters. You want to be rather care- ful, of course, not to sit down on it in damp weather or it will come off on you....Does she ride easy? Well, now, I'll tell you about that. On this new model, they've lengthened the springs from forty-eight inches to ninety-four inches — nearly two- thirds of the total wheel-base— very long and flexible, and if they were twice as long and as flexible as Helen Wills, this car would still ride as if it had three flat tires....This is the new vacuum tank. Entirely unlike anything that's being used on any other car to-day. It squirts the gasoline right up into the front seat instead of into the carburetor, but it’s perfectly safe because, fortunately, the cigar lighter on the dash won't light.... No, we don’t guarantee anything. But this is a very conservative firm. A Nice Paint Job Their idea is that cars ought to run; and you have to admire them for their honesty, even if it isn’t very practical. , they're a fine old type of busin man—been in the business nearly six months, this week. You don’t see many of their kind now; slowly dying out—slowly dying out....Good thing, too....My advice? Well, now, I'll tell you; of course I'm in a position to know just what this car can do. I've driven hun- dreds of ’em—all stock cars, just like that on u're looking at—and if you really want something that will satisfy you, regardless of price, and get you there and back, with ease and comfort, I'd buy a bicycle.” Heman Fay, Jr. They Usually Are LAWYER: You say you passed ~ this big truck near Scott's Corners? Did you notice any- thing peculiar about it? Witness: Yes; it wasn’t in the middle of the road, comicbooks.com