Life, 1906-11-15 · page 32 of 36
Life — November 15, 1906 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **subscription advertisement**, not a political cartoon. The page promotes Life magazine's subscription offer circa 1907. The central image titled "An Old Love Song" depicts a romantic, atmospheric scene: figures in period dress arranged around a street or courtyard, with dramatic lighting and what appears to be a serenade or romantic encounter—possibly referencing a classical love song or literary scene. The real point is the **marketing strategy**: Life promises this large, hand-printed sepia artwork (10.5×15 inches) as a free premium to new annual subscribers paying $5.00 before February 1, 1907. The headline "You Can Not Buy This Picture" creates urgency—it's *exclusively* for subscribers, not for individual purchase. This reflects early 1900s magazine marketing tactics, using fine art reproductions as subscription incentives to compete for readers. The offer also mentions a catalog of 127 other prints subscribers could choose from instead.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
You Can Not Buy This Picture The size of the charming picture (of which this isa reproduction in miniature) is 1 04x15 inches. The large print is a sepia photogravure, plate marked. It is hand-printed on Exora steel-plate paper, 19x24, ready for framing. The Picture Will Not Be Sold But the large print will be delivered, carriage prepaid, to every new sub- scriber to LIFE at $5.00 a year, if we receive the remittance before February 1, 1907. In place of “An Old Love Song,” new subscribers may, if they s0 prefer, seledt prints from our catalogue to the value of $2.50. The handsome little catalogue of LIFE'S PRINTS, with miniature teprodudtions of 127 drawings, will be sent to any address on application. LIFE PUBLISHING CO, 17° WEST 31a STREET, NEW YORK CITY ~ comicbooks.com