Everybody knows about LIFE, the magazine of photojournalism that first appeared in 1936 and still is with us today in various printed forms. But LIFE was also the name of the foremost American humor magazine of the period 1890-1930, and LIFE (the humor magazine) was an important and influential magazine in its time.br> When the founders of TIME wanted to start a new magazine that would show America the world, they decided that the title had to be "Life." Someone was already using that title; so they bought it from them. LIFE, which hadn't been doing well during the Depression, was combined into JUDGE. And That was That.

The later covers of LIFE resemble nothing so much as the first covers of THE NEW YORKER. The magazines even overlapped in time, publishing many of the same artists months apart. Yet many LIFE covers looked totally unlike the cover of the preceding issue, or the next one; and sometimes not like anything ever published on any other magazine. It must have been a challenge to find it on the newsstand.

For a fuller discussion of LIFE, read the profile page. The first 80 volumes of the magazine are online at Hathi Trust.

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  • Life 1883 First Half Title Page 403 visits Life 1883 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1883-01-04 8935 visits Life 1883-01-04
  • Life 1883-01-04a 228 visits Life 1883-01-04a
  • Life 1883-02-15 230 visits Life 1883-02-15
  • Life 1883-07-05 219 visits Life 1883-07-05
  • Life 1883-07-26 214 visits Life 1883-07-26
  • Life 1883-08-16 181 visits Life 1883-08-16
  • Life 1883-08-30 193 visits Life 1883-08-30
  • Life 1883-09-06 187 visits Life 1883-09-06
  • Life 1883-09-13 176 visits Life 1883-09-13
  • Life 1883-09-20 177 visits Life 1883-09-20
  • Life 1883-10-04 179 visits Life 1883-10-04
  • Life 1883-10-11 194 visits Life 1883-10-11
  • Life 1883-10-18 171 visits Life 1883-10-18
  • Life 1883-11-22 189 visits Life 1883-11-22
  • Life 1883-11-29 215 visits Life 1883-11-29
  • Life 1883-12-20 149 visits Life 1883-12-20
  • Life 1883-12-27 122 visits Life 1883-12-27
  • Life 1884-01-10 126 visits Life 1884-01-10
  • Life 1884-01-17 124 visits Life 1884-01-17
  • Life 1884-01-24 115 visits Life 1884-01-24
  • Life 1884-02-07 119 visits Life 1884-02-07
  • Life 1884-02-14 108 visits Life 1884-02-14
  • Life 1884-02-21 111 visits Life 1884-02-21
  • Life 1884-02-28 4232 visits Life 1884-02-28
  • Life 1884-03-13 104 visits Life 1884-03-13
  • Life 1884-03-20 138 visits Life 1884-03-20
  • Life 1884-04-03 153 visits Life 1884-04-03
  • Life 1884-04-10 112 visits Life 1884-04-10
  • Life 1884-05-01 162 visits Life 1884-05-01
  • Life 1884-05-22 104 visits Life 1884-05-22
  • Life 1884-06-19 3925 visits Life 1884-06-19
  • Life 1884-07-17 4147 visits Life 1884-07-17
  • Life 1885 First Half Title Page 3251 visits Life 1885 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1885-01-01 2995 visits Life 1885-01-01
  • Life 1885-01-15 2969 visits Life 1885-01-15
  • Life 1885-01-22 3017 visits Life 1885-01-22
  • Life 1885-02-12 2957 visits Life 1885-02-12
  • Life 1885-02-19 2987 visits Life 1885-02-19
  • Life 1885-02-26 2821 visits Life 1885-02-26
  • Life 1885-04-09 2782 visits Life 1885-04-09
  • Life 1885-04-30 2711 visits Life 1885-04-30
  • Life 1885-05-07 2928 visits Life 1885-05-07
  • Life 1885-06-18 2738 visits Life 1885-06-18
  • Life 1887-01-06 4078 visits Life 1887-01-06
  • Life 1887-01-13 2754 visits Life 1887-01-13
  • Life 1887-01-20 2714 visits Life 1887-01-20
  • Life 1887-01-27 2604 visits Life 1887-01-27
  • Life 1887-02-03 4312 visits Life 1887-02-03
  • Life 1887-02-10 2607 visits Life 1887-02-10
  • Life 1887-02-17 2694 visits Life 1887-02-17
  • Life 1887-02-24 2528 visits Life 1887-02-24
  • Life 1887-03-03 2625 visits Life 1887-03-03
  • Life 1887-03-10 2547 visits Life 1887-03-10
  • Life 1887-03-17 2491 visits Life 1887-03-17
  • Life 1887-03-24 2333 visits Life 1887-03-24
  • Life 1887-03-31 2360 visits Life 1887-03-31
  • Life 1887-04-07 2475 visits Life 1887-04-07
  • Life 1887-04-14 2210 visits Life 1887-04-14
  • Life 1887-04-21 1983 visits Life 1887-04-21
  • Life 1887-04-28 2144 visits Life 1887-04-28
  • Life 1887-05-05 1959 visits Life 1887-05-05
  • Life 1887-05-12 2023 visits Life 1887-05-12
  • Life 1887-05-19 2071 visits Life 1887-05-19
  • Life 1887-05-26 2178 visits Life 1887-05-26
  • Life 1887-06-02 2009 visits Life 1887-06-02
  • Life 1887-06-09 2059 visits Life 1887-06-09
  • Life 1887-06-16 2101 visits Life 1887-06-16
  • Life 1887-06-23 1925 visits Life 1887-06-23
  • Life 1887-06-30 2091 visits Life 1887-06-30
  • Life 1887-07-07 2139 visits Life 1887-07-07
  • Life 1887-07-14 2097 visits Life 1887-07-14
  • Life 1887-07-21 2233 visits Life 1887-07-21
  • Life 1887-07-28 1981 visits Life 1887-07-28
  • Life 1887-08-04 1840 visits Life 1887-08-04
  • Life 1887-08-11 1826 visits Life 1887-08-11
  • Life 1887-08-18 2080 visits Life 1887-08-18
  • Life 1887-08-25 1931 visits Life 1887-08-25
  • Life 1887-09-01 1818 visits Life 1887-09-01
  • Life 1887-09-08 1903 visits Life 1887-09-08
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