Life, 1920-04-22 · page 4 of 44
Life — April 22, 1920 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a satirical piece titled "LIFE" that mocks spiritualism and séances—popular phenomena in early 20th-century America. The text humorously presents a fake "message from the Beyond" claiming that a "Psychic Number" of LIFE magazine will soon arrive, full of "Good Spirits." The joke relies on contemporary interest in contacting the deceased through mediums. LIFE sarcastically promises readers supernatural communication while actually advertising their magazine's next issue. The decorative borders show simplified spirit or ghost figures, reinforcing the spiritualist theme. Responses attributed to "Joe Miller," "John Barleycorn," and "Robert Burns" appear to be playful fictional testimonials, likely using well-known names (Burns was a Scottish poet) for comedic effect rather than actual quotes. The page is primarily satirical advertising disguised as supernatural entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ASTILY summoning our trusty: medium, we gave the following message to the Beyond: “Yes, Lire is here. Lrre—you must have heard of Lire. Ha! We're getting up a Psychic Number. Never heard of Psychic! Why, it’s all about you. Yes— about you folks. Yes, yes. Coming next week—full of Good Spirits. Price only ten cents, as usual. Let us know if it’s all right. = Lik an occasional humorous weekly, or perhaps I should say a weekly that is occasionally humorous. Oh, no; nothing of that sort—you like it. Well, get an answer. My control is beginning to weaken, (It’s not the Business Office.) Let me know—” NSWERS from the Beyond have been coming in ever since. Here are a few: Joe Miller: The coming Psychic Num- ber of Lire has put new life into me. I can scarcely wait to see it. John Barleycorn: Here's looking at you! Robert Burns: I hope Lire will enable us to see ourselves as others see us. SPECIAL OFFER Enclosed find One Dollar (Canadias $1.13, Foreign $1.26). Send Live fet three months to Next Week the Psychic Number of LIFE— full of Good Spirits Open only to new subscriber scriptions renewed at this This is the wedding season, LIFE, 17 West 31st Street. New York 9 gilt for the bride would be a That is a present that will give Net be One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52 pptes will be sent to any address on Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com