Life, 1909-05-20 · page 35 of 36
Life — May 20, 1909 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a promotional page for *Life* magazine's upcoming "Matrimonial Number" (May 27), employing light satirical humor typical of early 20th-century American magazines. The goat illustration and opening line ("Cheer up! The best is yet to come!") humorously suggest marriage as an inevitable, somewhat dubious fate. The text jokes that married readers will understand matrimony's complexities while unmarried men will remain equally confused—describing ignorance as "the only safe condition" for bachelors. The page advertises future special issues with colored covers by named illustrators, each targeting specific themes: summer travel ("gadding"), flirtation, books, the Fourth of July, and Halloween ("spooks"). The tone throughout is gently mocking of both marriage and modern life's fads, characteristic of *Life*'s satirical approach to American social customs and leisure activities in this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cheer up! The best is yet to come! Are You Married? The Matrimonial Number of Life, out next ‘luesday (May 27), will explain everything. If you are married, you will know the reason why. If you are not married, you will be just as much in doubt about it as ever, which is the only safe condition for an unmarried man. In this number every phase of matrimony is con- sidered, from the suburbs to the bargain counter. Other Numbers Are were on June 8. SUMMER GADDING NUMBER. July 1. FOURTH OF JULY. (Colored Cover by Church.) ced papa Jolored Cover by Cl sa a (Colored Cuter by Clay.) You may not realize it, but LIFE was the first_ paper Are youagadder? If you are, you will know that in this country to call attention to the loss of life on I one gadder does not make a summer, That is why July by the une of Breworks we are stl - tt. ny les Sc 4 although inany other papers have followed our lead wad we are crowding this number with them. In the fneantine the Independence number is ‘one of our real masterpieces. ‘ull of snap. It goes off June 10, FLIRTS* NUMBER. (Colored Corer by Phillips.) with a harmless bang. pasty ‘To flirt or not to flirt ? That is the y . ‘0 ot to is the question, Whether é colored C: ie ic is wetear to bear ths wipe and scores of stagilar- SPOOKS' NUMBER, (Colored Cover by Huggins.) ipbantly. ity or to get busy and break some beauty’s heart (or —! Are you afraid to go out in the dark + Do get your's broken in turn). The secrets of flirting you believe in spirits? Have are all laid bare in this number, When you have Tis well. Read LIFE and be : be laughter in the xj 0 ‘hen this numbe: arrelling Ratihe ih eon oil be aheartbreaker unexcelled. comes out. Fair notiee t9 all spoke Mauer 1p ?2—Bo- June 17, BOOK NUMBER. (Coloured Corer by Dizon.) BESIDES, Miss Agnes Repplier writes in her alwaysentertaining there are coming the Fall Sporting, Etiquette, Improper, and ucute manner about some recent books. There : at White Way, Winter Travel, Chorus, isa literary finish to this number that only LIFE Musical Numbers—and a lot of others. knows how to make. Those little touches are what . count, All here Onder of issue subject to change. _j comicbooks.com