Life, 1919-06-26 · page 4 of 43
Life — June 26, 1919 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is the "Gloom Number" of LIFE magazine for July 3rd—a satirical issue published around American Independence Day. The cartoon shows a figure mourning at a grave marked "Here Lies Joy," carrying what appears to be a coffin or funeral item. The accompanying text is ironic: it nostalgically recalls better times when people "laughed and sang" and "held up our heads," describing a freer, more carefree world with "music in our souls." The text promises the *next* issue will "celebrate thy mournful advent"—referring to the Fourth of July itself. The satire appears to mourn the loss of American joy and freedom, suggesting contemporary circumstances (likely related to WWI era based on the magazine's publication period) have extinguished the nation's spirit. The "Gloom Number" deliberately counterpoints patriotic holiday expectations with pessimistic commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Now that we look back on it, it wasn’t such a bad world. We laughed and sang and held up our heads under the troubles that we now see were lighter than we thought. The clink of glasses stood for Freedom. We were gay. We were ir- responsible. We were at times delight- fully wicked. There was music in our souls, merriment in our hearts. Even LIFE had occasionally humorous things. We hail thee with solemn dirge, thou First of July. The next issue of this lugubrious paper will celebrate thy mournful advent. Gloom Number of LIFE July 3rd comicbooks.com