Life, 1928-05-03 · page 42 of 46
Life — May 3, 1928 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Packard automobile advertisement**, not political satire. The page uses historical imagery to market luxury cars. The three photographs above the car show **medieval and early modern metalworking**—blacksmiths at forges and anvils. These connect to the advertisement's argument that Packard automobiles represent the culmination of ancient craftsmanship traditions combined with modern precision manufacturing. The central image depicts a blacksmith working metal, while the side images show industrial foundry work, visually bridging "the skill of the medieval swordsmiths" (noted in the caption) with contemporary manufacturing. **The sales pitch**: Packard cars embody centuries of metalworking heritage perfected through modern drop-forge technology. The ad emphasizes that fine materials, craftsmen, and tools have made Packard "the favored car of the world's first families" for thirty years. The tagline "Ask the Man Who Owns One" was Packard's famous advertising slogan, implying owner endorsement and prestige. This reflects 1920s marketing strategy: positioning luxury goods as descendants of historical excellence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ACKARD crankshafts, gears, axles— and all of the many forgings so vital in upholding the Packard reputation for performance and long life—are fashioned with supreme skill and the most modern of precision equipment. Batteries of huge drop forges, with their costly dies, shape selected steels into Packard parts with a speed and exact- ness unknown to the craft but yesterday. The skill of the medieval swordsmiths was an heritage from generations at the forge For while the forging of metal is as old as history, only with the perfection of modern tools—in which Packard has long held leadership—has drop forging reached its highest development. Every Packard part must conform to Packard’s inflexible standards. Fine materials, fine craftsmen, fine tools— these are factors which for nearly thirty years have made the Packard the favored car of the world’s first families. Packard cars are now priced from $2275 to $4550. Individual custom models from $3875 to $8725, at Detroit PACKARD AS K THE MAN WHO Owns ONE comicbooks.com