Life, 1910-11-10 · page 40 of 44
Life — November 10, 1910 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **self-promotional page** announcing upcoming issues of *Life* magazine (a satirical publication, not the later photo magazine). The text uses mock-serious language to advertise two fictional future issues: "Hell Next Week" and "Goody Goody." The humor relies on **ironic contrast**: "Hell Next Week" is described as cheerful and harmless despite its infernal name, while "Goody Goody" is positioned as so wholesome it wouldn't embarrass even an "Albany legislator"—apparently a coded reference to corrupt political figures, suggesting legislators were known for scandal. The **small devil illustrations** scattered throughout reinforce the playful "hellish" branding. The page mockingly urges readers to subscribe, with a satirical "DON'T READ THIS!" section that paradoxically emphasizes subscription's importance. The tone is typical early 20th-century magazine satire: self-aware, irreverent, and designed to build audience loyalty through humor and the promise of witty content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Subscription, $5.00 HELL NEXT WEEK NUMBER It is wicked, wise and witty, it is full of hellish glee. It is glowing (like this ditty) with sulphuric bril- lancy. It contains no controversies, heated, warm or otherwise, and no pessimistic curses do we need to advertise. It is hell—but it is jolly; as a proposition bold it is warm (sans melancholy) and is worth its weight in gold. (Price as usual, only ten cents.) AFTER HELL, WHAT? Why, the Goody Goody, of course. An awfully nice number. A perfectly delightful affair— nothing in it to bring the blush of shame to the alabaster cheek of an Albany legislator. Refined pleasantries, unexcep- tionable cogitations, innocuous in- nuendoes, irreproachable jocular- ity. Be Goody Goody (once a year) and you will be as por.tar as this number. DON'T READ THIS! (It is merely one of our business pecca- dillos.) We want to impress upon you the de- lightful_ and incontrovertible fact that this is the precise season of the year when you must become a regular subscriber. Your honor, your conscience, your love of country, and the necessity of being ubiquitously and constantly cheerful, all compel you to take this step. Trial subscription (three months). But don’t do that if you have a fiver. Better insure your happiness for one year. Come in under the shelter of LIFE. Obey that Impulse. LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York Canadian, $5.52 tefeitel Ask yc esate y veven la mas int fraduat comicbooks.com —