Life, 1914-08-13 · page 4 of 40
Life — August 13, 1914 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a satirical cartoon about magazine subscription campaigns. A bear and a small figure (likely representing Life magazine's mascot or personification) are depicted operating a fire hose spraying water—representing subscription impulses—at stacks of subscription forms and promotional materials. The bear's dialogue expresses frustration: the magazine must maintain this aggressive subscription push "until about one million or so have obeyed that impulse and each one subscribed for three months." The satire targets the relentless, high-pressure marketing tactics Life employed to boost circulation numbers. The imagery of an uncontrollable fire hose suggests the campaign's overwhelming, almost absurd intensity. The page also advertises a forthcoming prize contest to maintain reader interest during this subscription drive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
$1.13, Foreign =” Send Live n_only to new subscribers; no subscription renewed at this rate. LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York 57 One Year $5.00. (Canadian $5.52, Foreign $6.04) Tue Bear: Look here! How long have we got to keep this up? “Oh, until about one million.or so more have obeyed that impulse and each one subscribed for three months.” Another prize contest, of the usual absorbing interest, will be announced in an early number. In the meantime, while ese are making ae hoe . Mailed. mind whether to subscribe, send for a copy of Miniature Life. on receipt of a two-cent stamp.