Life, 1918-10-24 · page 3 of 34
Life — October 24, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Content:** This page is primarily a **Christmas gift advertisement** for Life magazine subscriptions, not political satire. **The Cartoon:** The illustration depicts soldiers in what appears to be a WWI trench setting. The caption reads: "Soi, Bill, I believe in doin' my Christmas shoppin' early." **The Point:** The satire is gentle and patriotic rather than political. It uses humor to encourage readers to send Life magazine subscriptions to American soldiers serving overseas—described as "boys overseas" on the Western Front. The joke plays on the contrast between typical Christmas shopping and the wartime context. **The Pitch:** The ad emphasizes that Life makes an ideal gift for troops, costing $5 annually ($3 for American Expeditionary Force men). It's wartime morale-building advertising that frames magazine subscriptions as practical, uplifting gifts for distant soldiers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
i‘ Soi, Bill, 1 believe in doin’ my Christmas shoppin’ early.”’ We cannot all be so fortunate as this boy, but, no matter where you are—whether in the home trenches or on the Western front—you can send a Christmas present of Lire for one year as a weekly message of cheer. Now is the time to Obey That Impulse. Don’t wait. The sooner we get your order the more certain that Lire will go forward at the right moment. If requested in the order with the subscription we will send to the recipient a handsome Christmas card. State when the subscription is to begin in sending check to Enclosed find five dollars (Canadian, $5 / if $6.03). Send Lire for one year to The One Christmas Gift: that can be sent the boys overseas; thousands of copies go each week. To American Expe- ditionary Force men $5 a year, if no local foreign address be given. LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York, 4 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04. ) comicbooks.com