Life — June 5, 1913 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Hoodoo Number of Life" This is a humorous advertisement for an upcoming special issue of *Life* magazine. The central image shows a skeletal figure (representing bad luck or death) holding a candle next to a grandfather clock, with the caption "Maybe I Won't Obey That Impulse." The "Hoodoo Number" plays on superstition—referring to the issue as a talisman against accidents. The accompanying text humorously suggests readers carry a copy for protection: if struck by a trolley, auto accident, or other mishap, possessing this magazine will guarantee "good luck for ever after." This satirizes both contemporary anxieties about modern transportation dangers and the public's susceptibility to superstitious beliefs. The skeletal figure and dark imagery make the joke about mortality darkly comic while advertising the upcoming special issue.