Life — December 26, 1930 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page is a **title page or introductory section** for *Life* magazine, featuring an illustration and accompanying essay about a recurring character. The sketch shows figures at a doorway, with the word "Life" in elegant script above. The text discusses "a doddering old fellow — 1930 by name" who is departing, presumably as the year 1930 ends and 1931 begins. The passage uses personification, treating the year itself as a character with personality traits—"disagreeable," having "hidden our political and industrial headache powders," yet possessing "a merry side." This is **New Year's satirical commentary**: the magazine bids farewell to 1930 (marked by economic hardship following the 1929 crash) with wry humor, while greeting 1931 with cautious hope. The "old fellow" is literally the year being personified, a common editorial device in period magazines.