Life, 1928-03-01 · page 3 of 42
Life — March 1, 1928 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising for Timken Tapered Roller Bearings**, not political satire. The cartoon depicts two figures in a car covered with handwritten notes and graffiti—likely representing the accumulated "wear and tear" or accumulated claims about a vehicle's performance. The figures appear to be a salesman pitching the car to a potential buyer. The advertisement's "joke" is that Timken Bearings provide "the best line on any car"—a pun on "line" meaning both sales pitch and mechanical component. The satire gently mocks car salesmen's exaggerated claims, suggesting that with proper Timken bearings, a vehicle will perform reliably rather than requiring constant excuses. This reflects 1920s-era consumer advertising humor targeting automotive buyers skeptical of sales tactics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
< ; Wer rare oie Mc je pod “Une ; ~. US} WO “te Dect “Line on Any Car— speed. To do this complete job competently it takes the exclusive combination of Timken tapered construction, Timken POSITIVELY ALIGNED ROLLS, and Timken-made electric furnace steel. When the salesman says “Equipped with Timken Bearings” he gives you an accurate line on the charac- ter of his car. So much meaning attaches to the bearings because theirs is the ultimate responsibility for carrying the moving parts. When there are Timken Bearings there is the utmost protection not only against friction, but against side-thrust, torque, shock, and ) yen WALK DONT ICUN Paz SES ~ RED ne /2 00 JOeT 6% That is the best assurance of per- manently quiet, attention-free transmissions, differentials, pinion or worm drives, rear wheels, front wheels, steering pivots and fans. THE TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING COMPANY, CANTON, OHIO TIMKEN =: BEARINGS comicbooks.com