Life, 1920-02-12 · page 4 of 44
Life — February 12, 1920 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page announces *Life* magazine's strike against its own advertisers and business practices. The publishers are refusing to run the standard coupon advertisement (a regular feature) and eliminating subscriber solicitation that week. The central claim is that *Life* has maintained its ten-cent price since 1883, while "practically everything else has doubled." They argue this represents "economic stability" and that readers get exceptional value—art, literature, and humor for a dime. The satire targets publishers who typically try to extract more revenue through coupons and subscription pushes. *Life* presents itself as the principled alternative, prioritizing content quality and price stability over profit extraction. The small illustration of a figure with wings appears decorative rather than specifically satirical.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Our Own Private Strike We have struck. The business office is not going to put over anything on us this week. We have eliminated if not the form, at least the substance of the atrocious coupon that usually appears on this page. Just for this once we are not going to ask you to become a regular subscriber. You may if you like. We shall put nothing in your way. We are going to say anything we please this week. And if nothing happens, we are going to continue to say it. And this is what we are going to say: The price of Lire is ten cents. Astonishing, isn’t it? Practically everything else has doubled. Lire remains the same. It was ten cents in 1883. It is ten cents in 1920. That's economic stability. When we look at our printing and paper bills we groan. But Lire is not a profiteer. We are now giving you twice as much for your money as you ever got before. Art, literature, humor (occasionally), and other things too numerous to mention. The best. And all for ten cents. At ten cents we've simply got to get out the most cheerful - paper in the world. If we didn’t, you'd all have the laugh on us. Pi place where that hideous EVERY TUESDAY coupon alwey: was — be EVERYWHERE we struck. They TE. NTS have ordered us to N CE insert it this week, and 4 we have walked out oo them. They wanted us t0 put in LIFE’S rates. We refused. Why subscribe to LIFE, anyway? Take a week of They Always Try 0 put something in this space. es the proof of this page leaves our hands some enthusi astic person in the circulation department gets hold of it and puts something here to the effect that Lire is an asset and you ought to subscribe. We've got ahead of them this week. Don't, if you don’t want to. with us. If you must, sendin enougd dollars for a year. We don't know what the yearly rate is, We wouldnt burden our minds with those financial triv- alities. It’s about five dollars. If it’s any more send $6 and tell ‘em to credit the differ- ence to the Fresh Air Fund. Who cares about money nowadays, anyway? comicbooks.com