Life, 1911-01-19 · page 40 of 44
Life — January 19, 1911 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **subscription advertisement** disguised as theatrical promotion. The four caricatured heads at top represent theatrical character types—appearing to be stock figures from vaudeville or stage comedy (a cowboy, an exaggerated character, a performer with a cigar, and a pointed-headed figure). The text uses theatrical language metaphorically to promote Life's upcoming "Theatrical Number" issue, describing it as a grand performance with "fifty-seven performers" (Life's contributors) and "Metcalfe's Educated Theatrical Trust"—likely a satirical reference to corporate trusts, a major political concern of the era. The core message: Life magazine is so popular that readers need information about **when and where to buy it** at newsstands. The page announces an upcoming "Time Table" to help readers locate copies, acknowledging the high demand (described as "the largest news-stand circulation of any ten cent weekly"). The subscription rates ($5.00 domestic, $5.52 Canadian, $6.04 foreign) and the cut-out mail coupon are standard magazine marketing tactics of the period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Curtain Up! Next week's Life is the Theatrical Number. The curtain will ring up on all news- stands about eleven o'clock in the morning, and from that hour there will be a continu- ous performance with reserved seats for everybody in the country at the popular price of ten cents, or one dime. Ladies and gentlemen, we take pleasure in introducing to you the most colossal array of Refined Comedy, Sparkling Sentiment, Thrilling Situations, Blood Curdling Jokes and Delicate Humor that this world, or any other, has ever seen or heard. Side Splitting novelties. Renowned artists in black and white, A colored entrance by Flagg. All by the celebrated Life Family of Entertaining Specialists, fifty- seven performers all performing at once; assisted by the greatest typographical adver- tising display in the annals of history. Before entering, you will have an opportunity to examine all the animals in the Literary Zoo or traveling menagerie of Freaks and Fierce untamed authors, many of them brought from the wilds of central Indiana. To be con- cluded with a wonderful exhibition of Metcalfe’s Educated Theatrical Trust, which eats out of the hand and lies down and pretends to be dead by a mere movement of his wand. Come early and avoid care and trouble. / / JUST CUT THIS OUT 7 P AND MAIL IT TO y ? , When Can I Buy Life LIFE. YT'S ALITTLE //” acu So many people are buying LIFE from MATTER OF NE. 7 find ove the news-stands these days—and so many dollar (Ca more are going te do this in the near future ~* CESSARY BUSI- 7 —that it becoines important to know the precise hour of the particular day that you can get the latest issue. LIFE has the largest news-stand circu- lation of any ten cent weekly in the United States. We shall publish soon in this page in- formation which wili enable any LIFE reader to know just when he can get LIFE, no matter where on earth he lives. Look for LIFE’s Time Table. Subscription, $5.00 Canadian, $5.52 nadian $1.13) Send Lire for 7 three months to 4 7 7 / Open only to new subscribers ; no NESS. Foreign, $6.04 4 subscriptions renewed at this rate. comicbooks.com