Life, 1915-06-10 · page 26 of 48
Life — June 10, 1915 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page announces **Life's Shortest Short Story Contest**, offering $1,000 for the winning entry—a practical test of how brief fiction can be while remaining a "short story." The contest deadline is October 4, 1915, with stories limited to 1,500 words. The cartoons mock professional pretension: **"His Day of Retribution"** depicts a **magazine editor** (likely representing the magazine itself) being submitted for "approval" to what appears to be a heavenly or judgment authority. The editor is told to wait "a couple of hundred years" for rejection—satirizing editors' notorious habit of rejecting writers' work. The joke inverts power: now *the editor* experiences the humiliation writers endure. **"Plain But—"** shows a couple discussing whether something is "the real thing," likely mocking sentimental romance or advertising claims about authenticity. The section "Those Guesses" is philosophical satire: it notes how professionals rebrand guesses with fancy terminology (diagnosis, opinion, speculation, faith) to sound authoritative—a critique of professional pretension common in Life magazine's satirical tradition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1050 ‘LIFE: Life’s Shortest Short Story Contest First Prize $1000 Second Prize 500 Third Prize 250 [OW short can a short story be and yet be a short story? Lire would like to know. So would every writer, and, therefore, all writers are invited to join with Lire in mak- ing a practical test, Lire. invites contributions of short stories. For the best cived before noon of October 4, 1915, it will award izes—$1,000, $500 and $250. CONDITIONS No story submitted must exceed fifteen hundred words in length. There is no restriction placed upon the kind of story to be submitted. It may be humorous or tragic. Each contestant may send in as many manuscripts as he desires. The editors will exercise due care in returning unaccepted contributions, but will not hold themselves responsible for loss. Contestants are advised to keep duplicate copies. The manuscripts will be read and passed upon soon after being received. If accepted they will be paid for at the rate of ten cents a word for every word under fifteen hundred which the author does not write. (Subtract the number of words the contribution contains from fifteen hundred.) The stories will be published in Lire as soon as possible after their acceptance. When they have all been published, twelve among their authors will be asked to act as judges to award the prizes. In case of a division among the judges the Editors of Lire will cast the deciding vote. The final award will be announced as early as possible after the last story has been published in Lire, Of this there will be due notice. If any of the rules of this contest are violated the Editors of Lirr reserve the right to debar the contributions, The contest ends at noon, October 4, 1915. No manu- scripts received after that hour will be considered. Manuscripts should be addressed, “To the Editor of Lire’s Short Story Contest, 17 West Thirty-first Street, New York City”. Those Guesses WHEN a doctor makes a guess about a disease he calls it a diagnosis. When a lawyer makes a guess about the law he calls it an opinion. When a stock gambler makes a guess about stock he calls it a speculation. When a preacher makes a guess about the next world he calls it faith or revelation. HIS DAY OF RETRIBUTION “A MAGAZINE EDITOR, SIR, SUBMITS HIMSELP FOR APPROVAL ” “TELL MIM TO WAIT IN THE ANTEROOM FOR A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS, ME MILE, ASSURE IM THAT FINAL REJECTION WILL IM NO LACK OF MERIT IN THE Orre. TURNED DOWN FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS, NONE OF WHICH WE'LL TAKE THE TROUBLE TO POINT OUT” NG—THAT ME MAY Tame 31M ITS THE REAL) THING 7 . J PLAIN BUT——