Life, 1928-03-08 · page 31 of 43
Life — March 8, 1928 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Pierce-Arrow automobile advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The page promotes the luxury car manufacturer's new Series 81 model. The advertisement uses aspirational imagery: a sleek sedan parked before an elegant mansion with mountains beyond, suggesting wealth and sophistication. A smaller inset photo shows well-dressed passengers, reinforcing the car's appeal to the affluent. The copy emphasizes design features ("winged flight" fenders, elegant headlamps, powerful engine) and positions the Pierce-Arrow as a "beautiful patrician"—language appealing to old money and tradition. The price point ("from twenty-nine hundred dollars") targets the wealthy, though the financing option ("out of income") represents an early marketing strategy to broaden appeal. This reflects 1920s-era luxury car advertising that conflated automobile ownership with social status and refined taste.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHAT'S NEW ABOUT THE NEW PIERCE-ARROW . .. Continental in atmosphere, and essentially of the hour in smartness of line and color and equipment. «+A broader, lowereswung body, with fenders suggesting winged flight. .»» Fender headlamps which carry with them small auxiliary helmet-type lamps midway between fender and radiator in an extremely graceful grouping. (Bracket headlamps optional without added cost.) PIERCE =~ .«» A deeper radiator fronting an engine which is remarkable for new heights of speed, power and smoothness. Altogether, a beautiful patrician—a worthy bearer of tradition which is Pierce» Arrow. And ata price which adds to its unusual attractiveness. From twenty-nine hundred dol- lars—at Buffalo. Fifteen custom-built models, The Pierce « Arrow Motor Car Company, Buffalo, N. y. ARROW The NEW Seriées 81 You may purchase a Pierce - Arrow out of income, if you prefer. A simplified financing plan makes this a most practical procedure. Your pres ent car accepted as cash up to the full amount of its appraisal valuation, comicbooks.com