Life — April 4, 1912 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Bachelor's Number of Life" This is a title page and editorial announcement for a special issue of Life magazine focused on bachelors. The central illustration shows a group of children of various ages arranged together, captioned "Be Warned In Time." The editorial text humorously announces that Life is retiring its long-running bachelor advertisements, claiming the magazine will no longer feature "the reprehensible and irresponsible bachelor in his true light." The editors express relief at ending this content, stating they're giving up writing such advertisements because "there will be no more experience in the English language which have not been worried to death." The satire suggests bachelors have been a recurring satirical subject in Life's pages, and this "final" bachelor issue marks the end of that running gag or commentary on unmarried men.