Life, 1915-06-17 · page 4 of 52
Life — June 17, 1915 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical advertisement for a magazine subscription product called "General Numbers." The anthropomorphized numbers 1, 2, 5, 7, 4, and 8 are stacked whimsically, with the "2" wearing a crown or hat. The text jokes that during summer months, Life magazine publishes no regular system—only "General Numbers" issues instead. The copy humorously suggests readers shouldn't overthink summer content. The "hitherto unpublished portrait" caption jokingly presents this illustrated arrangement as finally revealing what their "General Number" looks like, playing on the absurdity of personifying numbered issues. The special offer promises three months of Life for one dollar ($1 foreign) if subscribers use the enclosed coupon. This is primarily a promotional piece exploiting the magazine's summer publishing schedule through humor and whimsy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
This Is the Open Season for General Numbers LAST WEEK, THE BOOK NUMBER ENDED THE REIGN OF SPECIAL NUMBERS UNTIL THE EARLY AUTUMN. IN SUMMER WE HAVE NO SYS- TEM. NOBODY WANTS TO THINK TOO MUCH IN SUMMER. IF LIFE EVER ISSUES ANOTHER HUMOROUS NUMBER—WHICH WE DOUBT—IT WILL BE IN SUMMER. FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS— OR JUST THE TIME YOU CAN GET LIFE FOR ONE DOLLAR BY AVAILING YOURSELF OF THE SPECIAL OFFER (SEE COUPON) —THERE WILL BE NOTHING BUT GENERAL NUMBERS. Special ffer Enclosed find One \ lar (Ci \ $32 $1.26). LAE ‘ for three months to \, R Hitherto unpublished portrait of our General Number. We've never : known before just what he looks Seite tence ee S. like, but our artist has figured 100 LIFE, 17 West 31st: Street, New York % him out for uSe One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com