Life, 1928-07-05 · page 49 of 50
Life — July 5, 1928 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **tire company advertisement**, not political satire. F. A. Seiberling, founder of Seiberling Rubber Company, uses the metaphor of America's "vanishing frontiers" to market all-tread tires. The editorial argues that literal frontiers (unexplored wilderness) have disappeared due to extensive paved highways enabling coast-to-coast travel. It then pivots to commercial "frontiers"—suggesting that Seiberling dealers nationwide eliminate the traditional divide between manufacturer and consumer by guaranteeing tire protection nationwide for one full year. The illustration shows frontier/pioneer imagery (left panel) contrasted with modern commerce (right panel), visualizing this transition from old to new America. The "Protected" tag shown ensures any Seiberling dealer anywhere will honor the warranty. This reflects 1920s-30s optimism about **national infrastructure, mass production, and consumer protection warranties** as markers of progress replacing westward expansion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Think of this: no matter where you bought your Pro- tected ‘Seiberling All-Tread ‘Tire—no matter how far abeld you have traveled, a Seiber- ling Dealer, wherever you may be, is ready to make good the pledge inscribed on the Seiber- ling Tag—eager to collaborate in safeguarding your pleasure in the transaction begun back home, The night before the Glorious Fourth This Tuesday evening the Seiberling Singers will broad- cast a program of AMERICAN MUSIC from WEAF through thirty stations of the Red Chain. You'll find beauties in their new arrangements of familiar melo- ad you will enjoy the tuneful works of our modern an composers, }on't forget —Tueaday evening, 8:30 Eastern Daylight ‘Time, Tune in oa this delightful program. r anishing rontiers An Editorial by F. A. Seiberling Gone are the old frontiers! They have vanished before an army of travelers such as the world had never known. Over hundreds of thousands of miles of paved highway we travel with never a barrier from coast to coast — from Maine to New Mexico. And vanishing, too, are old frontiers of custom and of commerce. Today, in any one of the five thousand cities and towns of the United States in which there is a Seiberling dealer, YOU CAN BUY A SEIBERLING ALL-TREAD TIRE FOR PAS- SENGER CAR SERVICE WITH FULL ASSURANCE ‘THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO SPEND ANOTHER PENNY ON THAT TIRE FOR A FULL YEAR, AND THAT ANY SEIBERLING DEALER, ANYWHERE, WILL GLADLY FULFILL THIS PROMISE OF PRO- TECTION AGAINST DAMAGE DUE TO ACCIDEN’ OR ROAD HAZARD. Because of our confidence in our product, of interest in its performance, our service extends beyond the factory gate, beyond the dealer’s store. In the new relation of maker and user these are vanished frontiers. Boitabg SEIBERLING ALL-TREADS Made under the direction of F. A. Seiberling, designer and builder of over 50,000,000 tires, Seiberling All-Treads are dis- tinguished by their one-piece tread from bead to bead, their side-bare for sidewall protec- tion, thelr generous quantity of materials—twenty per cent more rubber, twenty-five per cent stronger cotton, And to- day, when used in passenger car service, they are protected, for a full year, against any additional expense due to acei- dent or to road hazard. THE SEIBERLING RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO » e comicbooks.com