Life, 1910-12-15 · page 40 of 44
Life — December 15, 1910 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **house advertisement** for LIFE magazine itself, promoting upcoming issues and subscription. **Key elements:** The main cartoon shows a rejected male figure ("This Gentleman") apologizing for being published in competing periodicals. The joke is that LIFE magazine won't accept him—implying LIFE has superior editorial standards and won't tolerate content that "exploit[s] him to the limit of the law" in other magazines. **The satirical pitch** compares LIFE's accessibility to a doctor's office: doctors charge exorbitant fees for diagnosis, but LIFE costs only ten cents and is "open all the time." The humor suggests LIFE is a more democratic, affordable source of information and entertainment than professional services. **Featured upcoming issues** include special editions on topical subjects (Gasoline, Socialist's, Rich Man's, Easter), with January's Gasoline issue promised as "THE number of the year." The ad teases "The Girl in Red" by Phillips as the upcoming cover feature, using it as promotional hook for the next issue (December 22).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Look For The Girl in Red By PHILLIPS In the Next Number of LIFE (Everywhere next Tuesday. Issue of December 22) This number is going to be what we term one of our spon- taneously superlative numbers, in which, without consideration of expense or regard for the feelings of anyone, we crowd all the best things in sight into one number. : Not a special—just an all around number. COMING New Year’s. December 29th.—In which LIFE ushers in the New Year, with all of its attendant possibilities. ¢ Gasoline. January 5th.—This is THE number of the year. Over 100 Pages, 25 cents. Theatrical. January 26th. Socialist’s. Rich Man’s. February 23rd. March 2nd. March 23rd. April 6th. February 16th. Peacock. m "8. This Gentleman Humbug’s offers his apologies and begs to an- nounce to his friends that he has been rejected by LIFE. He appears regu- larly in other periodicals, who, indeed, exploit him to the limit of the law. But he has no place in LIFE, It is to laugh at him. Easter. LIFE has the largest news stand cir- culation of any ten cent weekly in the world. Look for the LIFE Covers, Subscription, $5.00 Canadian, $5.52 When Your Doctor (By the way, don’t read this ; it only relates an obvious fact in a hackneyed manner) prescribes, you must first go to his office during certain hours, and pay him an exorbitant price for guessing what is the matter with you. But all newsdealers are alike and their offices are open, all the time. You pay a uniform price of ten cents (except once or twice a year) and take Jarge and increasing doses of LIFE. It’s all mental anyway. Remember, we don’t advise your buying LIFE every hour of the day and night. We only insist upon it once a week—Tuesdays. That Big Christmas Issue is now on sale at all news- stands. The Girl and the Wreath areon thecover. The biggest and most exhilara- ting number of LIFE ever issued. Foreign, $6.04