Life — December 16, 1926 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a Life magazine cover from December 16, 1926, featuring an illustrated conversation between two women. The dialogue references a striking social change of the 1920s: the "Brunette" comments that the last time she saw her friend, she had dark hair, asking what happened. The "Blonde" explains she deliberately changed her hair color. The satire targets the 1920s obsession with appearance and reinvention, particularly women's adoption of blonde hair as a fashionable ideal during the Jazz Age. The cover mocks this trend as superficial and humorous—the casual way women would alter their appearance to follow beauty standards. The reference to a "PRIZE CONTEST" suggests Life used this cover to promote reader engagement with a hair-related competition.