Life, 1929-05-10 · page 5 of 44
Life — May 10, 1929 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical comic strip advertisement for Ethyl Gasoline, a brand that added tetraethyl lead to fuel. The "tragedy" follows Mr. Jones through a domestic crisis: his wife sends his suit to cleaners, discovers a scrap of paper with "Ethyl" written on it, assumes it's a woman's name, and tells him she thinks poorly of him and his mysterious "Ethyl." The husband rushes to an important business conference to prove his innocence, then takes his wife to a gas station where they discover "Ethyl" is merely the gasoline brand. The ad's joke: marital conflict resolved through the product itself. The satire mocks both domestic suspicion and aggressive advertising by treating a gasoline brand as worthy of causing serious relationship drama.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mrs. Jones decides to send hubby’s suit to the cleaners. an 18 . A Cer oy, | 4 — y)™ Hubby leaves important conference, after Mrs. Jones tells her better half what she thinks phone call that wife is in serious condition. of him and his “Ethyl.” a fe a To prove his innocence Mr. Jones puts wife in Everything forgiven and both go riding with car and drives her to filling station. Ethyl, the standard anti-knock fuel. fa ETHYL GASOLINE Ethyl Gasoline enables any car to do its very best and also brings out the better nature of back seat drivers. Ride with Ethyl today. comicbooks.com