Life, 1923-03-29 · page 39 of 40
Life — March 29, 1923 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a Life magazine advertisement promoting the publication itself, featuring Charles Dana Gibson, the famous illustrator known for creating the "Gibson Girl." The text uses humorous self-promotion, claiming Gibson was "chiefly famous as first man to refer to cartoonists as 'illustrators'"—a joking assertion of professional dignity. It recounts Gibson's career trajectory: he nearly became an architect, briefly studied sculpture under Saint-Gaudens (who apparently thought it was a prank), then turned to drawing. The satire lies in Gibson's 1920 purchase of *Life* magazine itself to guarantee his work's acceptance—a comedic exaggeration suggesting even successful artists face rejection. The text playfully invites readers to subscribe, claiming room still exists despite 200,000 circulation. The accompanying sketch shows Gibson in profile, establishing him as the featured "rogue" in this gallery of prominent figures. The advertisement leverages Gibson's considerable prestige to sell subscriptions while maintaining *Life's* characteristic wit and self-deprecation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
om = 5 ee 2. j / £ PY é GIBSON, Charles Dana HIEFLY famous as first man to refer to cartoonists as “illustrators.” (Cf. Will Rogers, ‘Collected Speeches, 1922- 23.) Almost started career as architect under George Post, who persuaded him to study sculpture under St. Gaudens. After week's free trial, St. Gaudens thought Post playing practical joke on him, and Gibson took up free hand drawing just in time. Sold first sketch to LIFE in 1886. Unable to break habit ever since. Finally bought LIFE in 1920 to insure acceptance of work. Nevertheless, LIFE now has circulation of over 200,000. Quite a crowd, but we still have room for you—and you—and you, etc. A trial subscription ($1—10 weeks) sent in to-day brings you THE HOME BUILDERS’ NUMBER THE CONTEST NUMBER THE TRAVEL NUMBER and 7 others; and each issue will contain at least one Gibson drawing "Special Offer Enclosed find “ One Dollar (Cana- dian $ $1.40) Life oo 598 MADISON AVE., NEW YORK Foreign Send LIFE for LIFE, 598 Madison Avenue, New York One Year, $5.00 (Canadian, $5.80; Foreign, $6.60) comicbooks.com