Life, 1919-09-18 · page 4 of 48
Life — September 18, 1919 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page announces an upcoming "Dull Number" of Life magazine. The text humorously acknowledges the paradox: Life is normally "uniformly bright and entertaining," making it nearly impossible to produce a deliberately dull issue. However, the editors have decided to attempt one anyway. The large black rectangle captioned "DID YOUR MIND EVER FEEL LIKE THIS?" is the joke itself—representing mental blankness or emptiness. This visual gag illustrates what "dullness" feels like. The page is primarily self-promotional advertising rather than political commentary. It encourages readers to subscribe or renew subscriptions in anticipation of this novelty issue. The decorative border with portrait medallions is typical of Life's aesthetic design during this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
nnouncement later. DID YOUR MIND LVER FEEL LIKE THIS? On Dullness For some time we have been conscientiously considering a Dull Number. This paper is so uniformly bright and entertaining, so witty, so delightful and so forth, that the temptation to be hopelessly dull for one number is irresistible. And if we issue a Dull Number, and if it succeeds, we can get out another. The Dullest Number of LIFE is therefore coming. When it will come we cannot now state. It will depend quite largely on how easy it is to get the material for it. Special Meanwhile, in anticipation thereof you might make out = a hopelessly dull and uninteresting check for the right fini One Dol amount and become a regular subscriber. Le ern Open only to new subscribers; no sul COMING! scriptions renewed at this rate, f the Miniature Lire. LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York. 109 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.)