Life, 1915-07-08 · page 4 of 44
Life — July 8, 1915 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **subscription advertisement for Life magazine** disguised as editorial content. The central cartoon depicts a monkey in a top hat examining something in its hand—a visual pun playing on the "monkey see, monkey do" concept. The ad's humor targets potential subscribers through mock-nagging: it references what "my wife told me" about subscribing, then lists reasons people procrastinate (summer, fall, springtime distractions), concluding "Not at all"—suggesting subscribers find excuses to avoid action. The monkey character likely represents the thoughtless reader who doesn't subscribe. The satire gently mocks human behavior and inertia while making Life's subscription pitch. Pricing shows this is early 20th century ($5 yearly). The ad uses self-aware humor about advertisement fatigue itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What did my wife tell me? It must have been to be sure and not forget to subscribe to Some subscribe in summer, Some do it in the fall, Some do it in the springtime And others (Possibly because they have not been sufficiently urged, or are Car thoughtless and don't obey that ~ 13. Foreign impulse, or for some other reason) ). “Send Live for three months 1 Not at all. “men Open only to new subscribers: At all news-stands ten cents. scriptions renewed at this rate. Heat fs ont of ty ff LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York 3 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com