Life, 1919-08-07 · page 4 of 44
Life — August 7, 1919 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a subscription advertisement disguised as editorial content. The central image shows two birds (appearing to represent silence or muteness) with the caption "WE CANNOT SPEAK," likely alluding to censorship or suppressed speech—a relevant concern during WWI era when Life operated. The surrounding monkey caricatures represent potential subscribers with various objections: one finds it "funny" to ask Life to print something funny, another claims ten cents is impossible, and a third rejects three-month subscriptions. The satirical point: Life is humorously mocking subscriber excuses while promoting subscriptions at $5 annually. The page positions Life as appealing to "both children and grown people" and notes soldiers receive preference for copies. The imagery and tone suggest this dates to the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“WE CANNOT SPEAK” There is nothing personal about this. All it means is that the price of Lire still remains at ten cents. You can also become a regular subscriber by paying something. How much, we don't know. The terms are in the coupon. Some day we shall read that coupon. “THAT REMINDS ME TO ASK LIFF “ONLY TEN C TO PRINT SOMETHING FUNNY” IMPOSSIBLE!” Special ‘Offer Enclosed find One Dob (Canadian Foreign d Lire nths to Lire appeals to both children and a grown people. The soldiers asked for it is Ones sath mee gametes we ae in preference to any other paper, and eels Ore a ee ae the hospitals cannot get enough copies at times to meet the demand. “ONE DOLLAR FOR THREE LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. 193 Send them a subscription. MONTHS! NEVER!” One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04) comicbooks.com