Life, 1915-11-11 · page 4 of 44
Life — November 11, 1915 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is a **Christmas gift subscription pitch** for *Life* magazine, not a political cartoon. The "Second Call" headline announces an early holiday campaign to encourage readers to give *Life* subscriptions as presents. The satire is subtle: the text contrasts *Life*'s eagerness to profit from the holiday season against the business department's usual restraint about such promotions. The phrase "Obey That Impulse" humorously frames gift-giving as inevitable impulse-buying rather than thoughtful giving. The decorative border features Christmas imagery (sleigh, snowman, carolers, children playing) typical of period holiday advertising. The subscription cost was $5 yearly ($5.52 Canadian, $6.04 foreign). The satirical point: even a respectable magazine will abandon propriety for Christmas commerce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ence able: somi Second Call The business department says it is too early for us, in this page, to publish any notice about sending Life out as a Christmas present to your friends. That is the difference between us and the business department. We will do anything for money. But we are beginning this campaign early because we want your friends to reap the benefit. You send us the cash for the number of subscriptions you desire, stating they are for Christmas. On Christmas morning your friends receive from us a handsome card, printed in colors, containing the glad news that they will get Life for one year as a Christmas gift. You do this, you understand, not because you are necessarily saving yourself trouble, but because you are stne there can be no more appropriate or welcome gift than Life for a Christmas present. Obey That Impulse One Year $5.00. (Canadian $5.52, Foreign $6.04.) In addition to Lire one gets with a yearly subscription the handsonte premium picture, “ Suns. a much larger color reproduction—16% x 23—than we hi r before. M cost cess. n we for | self cffor who hims look scan the : the We by h at o ofa Job wor Loos avo have imm wort thro gan comicbooks.com