Life, 1928-01-12 · page 8 of 39
Life — January 12, 1928 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical commentary on Henry Ford and early automobile manufacturing. The main article, "Why Didn't Mr. Ford Do It This Way?" presents absurdist questions mocking Ford's design choices—why not build an amphitheater into the car? Why not include a gold-locked garage? The accompanying cartoons exaggerate these ideas: one shows a man in a tiny car unable to make a left turn, captioned with dialogue about being left-handed. The satire targets Ford's famous efficiency obsessions and mass-production methods. By proposing increasingly ridiculous automotive "features," the author ridicules both Ford's engineering decisions and the broader American fascination with automotive innovation during the automobile boom. The humor relies on readers' familiarity with Ford's cultural prominence and reputation for unconventional thinking.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Re “There's something wrong. This gear-shift doesn’t work.” “That isn’t the gear-shift, Jack. It's—er—it's my knee.” Why Didn’t Mr. Ford Do It This Way? HY didn’t he build a huge am- phitheatre seating several hun- dred thousand people and having in the center a tremendous stage? And why didn’t he cause to be swung in mid-air above this stage a garage with glass sides, so that it was per- fectly apparent that there was noth- ing inside, and a glass door which was locked with a large gold pad- lock? And then why didn’t he in- vite the nearby Ford owners and their friends to be at the amphi- theatre promptly at 3:15 of the first bright sunny afternoon? And then why didn’t he and Edsel slip into their dress suits and, while music was being played by the Ma “Darn these road hogs.” fiddler, pass down the aisle and bor- row five derby hats, en silk handkerchiefs, a lady's watch and ring and the last financial statement of General Motors? And then, with the fiddler still playing, why didn’t he and Edsel go back on the stage, disclose the fact that they had noth- ing up their sleeves and invite in- spection of the platform for trap- doors and mirrors? And, after the audience was quite satisfied, why didn’t he place the five derby hats, the seven assorted silk handker- chiefs, the watch and ring and the financial statement of General Mo- tors in a heavily jeweled box which had been resting on a table in full view of the popu- lace ever since the perform- ance. started? Then, while Edsel held the box clear of the table to per- mit of no decep- tion, why didn’t Mr. Ford, with a mystic phrase or two and the wave of a wand, take from the box a rabbit, at the same time exhibiting the fact that the re- ceptacle was now empty? Then why didn’t he take from the neck of the rabbit a purple ribbon and, holding it aloft, pull from the purple gold key? And then, after he had uttered another strange word or two, why didn’t heavy velvet cur- tains suddenly fly up on all four sides | of the suspended garage so that the interior could no longer be seen? Then why didn’t the garage slowly lower If to the center of the stage? Then why didn’t Mr. Ford, with the key he had got from the purple ribbon, open the garage door? | And why didn’t the new Ford car with a beautiful girl at the wheel issue therefrom? Probably he never thought of it! / Hayward Bartlett. A Pair LGERNON: Of course I strenuously wife’s going to work again, but she | felt that she must have something to do to occupy her time, so at last I consented, Eosert: I had a tough time get- ting mine to hunt another job, too. F“! RY Story—Once upon a time there was a manufacturing estab- lishment fully as extensive as the let- terhead of the company depicted it. “What's the big idea, miss? Don’t you know you can’t make anything but a right-hand turn at this corner?” “But, officer, I'm left-handed!” ribbon a | objected to my [7 for mu the comicbooks.com