Life, 1923-06-21 · page 34 of 36
Life — June 21, 1923 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **subscription advertisement** for *Life* magazine, a satirical weekly publication. The cartoon depicts a man energetically removing a coupon from the page—the visual joke being that the coupon is physically "useless" while attached but becomes valuable once detached and mailed. The ad promotes subscribing to *Life* as a form of self-care, humorously positioning weekly reading as a disciplinary practice for happiness and laughter. It encourages readers to treat leisure time seriously: sitting in an easy chair, laughing deliberately for an hour weekly, and cutting out "gloom" alongside cutting out the coupon. The pricing ($5.00 annually, with Canadian and foreign rates noted) and address (598 Madison Avenue, New York) confirm this is a genuine subscription solicitation. The tone is characteristic of early-to-mid 20th century advertising that blended practical sales pitches with whimsical appeals to readers' wellbeing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
As long as the coupon be- low stays where it is, it is NO GOOD to any~ body. Detached, signed, and mailed —ah, then! All will be differ- ent. Get the Cou- pon o ff somehow. Fe ; $1.40). Send Yor ten weeks to LIFE, 598 Madison Avenue, New York Removing the cou- pon is one of the best ways of getting LIFE delivered to your house regularly for ten weeks. Think of the joy of having LIFE all to yourself in your own easy chair once a week for ten weeks. You can sit there and laugh, silently or noisily (according to your bringing-up). And you should sit down seriously to do nothing but laugh for an hour, now and then. It is excellent discipline to do it weekly. Make happiness routine. Cut out gloom. Cut out the Coupon. One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.80; Foreign, $6.60.) CAREY PRINTING CORPORATION New York City-Bethlehem-Philadelphia comicbooks.com,