Life, 1928-10-12 · page 43 of 44
Life — October 12, 1928 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Franklin automobile advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes the new Franklin Airman Limited sedan by claiming it "sets the STYLE and sets the PACE" in American motoring. The ad emphasizes performance records: a Los Angeles-to-New York round trip in 6½ days and a Lookout Mountain climb faster than competitors. It highlights the car's air-cooling system for sustained speed and hill-climbing ability. The top image shows two well-dressed passengers (likely representing affluent buyers) aboard the vehicle, with small aircraft illustrations flanking the scene—a visual metaphor suggesting the car's speed rivals aviation. The ad targets luxury car buyers by emphasizing both performance and comfort: elegant interiors, upholstery, pillows, foot cushions, and "epoch-making" colorings. This reflects 1920s-30s automobile marketing, when luxury cars competed on speed records and refinement as status symbols for the wealthy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The new Franklin AIRMAN LIMITED sets the STYLE and sets the PACE ere Acmevixe faster and infinitely more com- fortable road travel—the new Airman Limited has gained undisputed leadership in the field of fine American motor cars. Luxurious fast travel—as here presented—creates a wholly new vogue in modern transportation, Two dramatic demonstrations conclusively prove Franklin the world’s fastest road car. A flash from Los Angeles to New York and return in 6% days, which shattered the previous record by more than 10's hours! A streak up famous Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and return, 46% steeper than the Pike’s Peak grade, averaging 40.8 miles per hour for the distance and beating the previous titleholder by 4.6 miles SEDAN Five Passengers per hour! For sustained high speed and hill-climbing, air-cooling is supreme. This astonishing performance is made immeasur- ably more enjoyable by the luxury and beauty of the Airman Limited interiors. Here are absolutely new and elegant designs in upholstery, fabrics and appointments. Complete comfort features—arm rest, pillow, foot cushions, carriage robe. Original and delightful colorings. The whole effect is inter- esting, different, epoch-making. Today the new Airman Limited is the standard of comparison. You must see and drive it to get the full meaning of the modern spirit in style and performance. FRANKLIN AUTOMOBILE Company, Syracuse, N, Y. comicbooks.com