Life — September 12, 1889 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Us Covered at Last! The Elixir of Life" This is primarily a **humorous advertisement** for a magazine called "Life," using satire to market itself. The central image depicts Death (skeleton in black robes holding a scythe) being confronted by an angel holding a bottle labeled "LIFE"—a visual pun playing on the magazine's name. The ad claims that taking "Life" every Thursday cures melancholia, moroseness, indigestion, glumness, dullness of trade, and blues—common afflictions of the era. It's self-promoting satire: the magazine presents itself as an antidote to modern life's disappointments and low spirits. The surrounding sketches show various scenes of daily Victorian life and leisure, reinforcing that the magazine itself is the remedy to life's tedium. The price of 10 cents reflects late 19th-century publication costs.