Life, 1929-03-29 · page 3 of 36
Life — March 29, 1929 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **commercial advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Timken tapered roller bearings for automobiles. The cartoon depicts a cheerful businessman in a car launching joyfully into the air, with dogs running alongside—visual metaphors for smooth performance and reliability. The headline "Cars That Stay Young" and "This Thing Called 'Spring'" use playful language to describe the technical benefits of Timken bearings in providing shock absorption, torque management, and speed. The ad targets car dealers and owners, emphasizing that "Timken-Equipped" vehicles maintain their performance over time. The satirical tone is gentle—mocking motorists' enthusiasm for this mechanical feature while positioning it as desirable and exclusive. Published in Life magazine (March 29, 1929), this reflects pre-Depression consumer optimism about automobiles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This Thine called SpRING’® for Timen-equpped cas April performance carried into De- cember mileage . . . youth perennial . it is This Thing Called “Spring” in motoring... coveted by motorists and explained by two werds—“Tim- ken-Equipped.” This is an all inclusive and conclusive phrasecovering defense against shock, thrust, torque and speed. It assures car owners of these exclusive supe- riorities—Timken tapered construc- tion, Timken POSITIVELY ALIGNED ROLLS and Timken electric steel. Wise dealers mention “Timken- Equipped” first. If they do not, most buyers ask to be enlightened upon this point and decide in favor of “Cars That Stay Young”. THE TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING CO., CANTON, OHIO TIMKEN :::;.. BEARINGS TEs, Pablished Weekly by Life Publishing Company, $98 Madica Ave. New York, N'Y. Subscription $5000. Vol, 93, No, 2021, March29, 1909, Fos'dae Wee Matter New York, J 1883, at No ‘k Post Of: der ate rb 3. 1879." Printedin U.S.A. 'd id i Cleveland, Ohio," Bota’ ae bad Chony Mater ven Pe Oa Beal Maree Rare, Frssted ig US AG Eat dng tod Clase Mater a6 the Peat Ofice comicbooks.com