Life, 1917-05-17 · page 6 of 35
Life — May 17, 1917 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a subscription advertisement for *Life* magazine featuring Uncle Sam as the central figure, surrounded by smaller illustrations of him in various poses and moods. The headline "Sons and Daughters of Uncle Sam, Don't Worry!" uses a logical-fallacy argument structure: it claims that regardless of whether readers are rich or poor, happy or depressed about "the war" (likely World War I, given the historical period), they have "no cause for worry" if they subscribe to *Life*. The satire targets the magazine's own promotional claims—suggesting that reading *Life* provides such reliable comfort and entertainment that it's a guaranteed antidote to any anxiety. The surrounding caricatures of Uncle Sam emphasize this theme through repetition and exaggeration, implying that subscription offers an almost magical solution to wartime concerns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sons and Daughters of Uncle Sam, Don’t Worry! If you are an American citizen, one of two things is certain: either you are rich or you are poor. If you are poor, you will be able to make more money than ever before, so that doesn’t matter. If you are rich, one of two things is certain: either you are depressed over the war or you feel happy about it. If you feel happy about it, then there is no cause for worry. If you feel depressed, then one of two things is certain: either you are not a subscriber to Lire or you don’t even buy it on the news- stands. If you don’t buy it on the news-stands, then there is no cause for worry, for you can become a subscriber at once by remitting the proper amount. If you become a subscriber, one of two things is certain: either you feel that you are doing your duty or you are as cheerful as any- one can be who is filled to the brim once a week with the spirit of Uncle Sam. In either case there is no cause to worry. Obey that impulse. Special Offer Enclosed find One Dollar (Canadian $1.13, Foreign $1.26). Send Lire for three months to Open only to new subscribers; no subscriptions renewed at this rate. LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. 89 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com