Life, 1909-11-18 · page 4 of 36
Life — November 18, 1909 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **promotional page** for Life magazine's upcoming Christmas issue (dated December 2, priced twenty-five cents). The main cartoon by **Charles Dana Gibson** appears to show two figures exchanging a Life magazine as a Christmas gift—the illustration labeled "That Improper Number is coming. Have a little faith" suggests the Christmas issue will be entertainingly controversial or edgy. The page advertises featured content: Owen Seaman (editor of Punch) will contribute verses titled "An International Match," and includes a musical number with sheet music lyrics promising romantic tenor performances. The satirical angle is unclear without seeing the actual Christmas issue content, but the playful tone and "improper" reference suggest the magazine marketed itself as sophisticated, slightly risqué holiday entertainment for educated readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Great Christmas Issue our Containing a Centre Page Cartoon éy Charles Dana Gibson, Entitled “LIFE Invites a Few Old Friends to Dinner” Music Hath Charms And So Hath Next Week’s Lire Dated Nov. 25 It’s That Musical Number —Te He Served with a Toning Port— Tra la—tra la— Oh, don't you hear it humming! Tra la—tra la— Oh, don't you know it’s coming! ‘Twill be pretty, will be witty, ‘Twill be everlasting funny! With it’s tenors most romantic— Prima donnas fair and frantic, Lilting lays to take the town in, And high C's enough to drown in! Haughty impresarios stalking— “Art for Art's sake" —hear them talking! (Do re me fa so la see dough, Oh, "twill be worth the money— Tra lal ALSO “An International Match” VERSES By Owen Seaman EDITOR OF PUNCH Dec. 2—Christmas. The price of this number is twenty-five cents—the merriest, largest, most wonderful number of the year. If you send in your subscription now, this num- ber will be included in the year; you will also receive a handsome picture, free. Drop us a line and we will tell you all about it. If you want to send LIFE as a Christmas present to a friend, or any number, men- tion that also. You might, in addition, send us the money. We are ashamed to mention money. It’s a mere incident anyway. Better Obey That Impulse. Nothing tearful or fearful about it, but just a cheerful yearful. Dec. 9—Book. This number is freighted with a literary atmosphere. The Literary Zoo—by the way, do you read that department regularly? Don’t get the idea, just because it is among the advertising pages, that it isn't the best thing in the paper. Many people think it is. This number will also contain a wonderful collection of LIFE’S contributors—a really remarkable set of pictures. Dec. 16—Another Christmas Number. It's really a reg but we will call it Christmas because of its Cover (by Wildhack) and its seasonable gladness. Dec. 23—Another Regular. And then comes Lau Spe That Improper Number ts coming. Have a little faith Gives us time to catch up Dec. 30—The Chorus Girls’ Number. We don’t dare say much about this number—jast now. You may have noticed that we never use slang in these pages —they are written by a high literary swell who doesn’t think it is necessary— but we simply must refer to this number as a“ peach." Rest up while you're waiting for it. After that the Glad New Year. The first thing in it will be —but we'll tell you about that later, QA (Kh \ comicbooks.com