Life, 1915-12-09 · page 47 of 48
Life — December 9, 1915 — page 47: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a product advertisement, not a political cartoon. Life Publishing Company promotes their 1916 calendar through humorous, exaggerated copy typical of early 20th-century advertising. The satire operates through absurdist hyperbole: the ad claims that without this calendar, one's home becomes "a desert waste" and you won't know what day it is upon waking (with a jab at insurance agents, who supposedly track dates meticulously). The breathless language—"Obey that impulse!"—mocks both the product's supposed indispensability and advertising's manipulative urgency. The calendar itself featured six illustrated pages in full color, tied with silk cord and boxed, priced at $1.50. This was positioned as Life's sole official calendar offering. The humor lies in treating a mundane calendar as a luxury item essential to civilized life, reflecting contemporary advertising conventions that used exaggeration and mock-seriousness to drive consumer purchases.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
cA Gift Suggestion Would you be the happy pos sessor of wit, beauty, genuine sentiment and_ usefulness? Then you will secure a copy of Life’s Calendar for 1916. Bp, Calendar 1916 This is the only calendar issued by LIFE for the coming year. It consists of six sheets and a cover with a picture in full color on each page. Tied with heavy silk cord and boxed. Size 15% x12%. Price $1.50 each. It is beautiful. Without it during the coming year your home will be a desert waste. You will never know (unless you are an insurance agent), when you wake up in the morning, what day of the month it is. Sent to anybody, anywhere, on receipt of $1.50. Obey that impulse! LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 17 West 3lst Street, New York comicbooks.com