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 425 visits Life 1883 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1883-01-04 9001 visits Life 1883-01-04
  • Life 1883-01-04a 247 visits Life 1883-01-04a
  • Life 1883-02-15 249 visits Life 1883-02-15
  • Life 1883-07-05 238 visits Life 1883-07-05
  • Life 1883-07-26 233 visits Life 1883-07-26
  • Life 1883-08-16 199 visits Life 1883-08-16
  • Life 1883-08-30 213 visits Life 1883-08-30
  • Life 1883-09-06 206 visits Life 1883-09-06
  • Life 1883-09-13 194 visits Life 1883-09-13
  • Life 1883-09-20 194 visits Life 1883-09-20
  • Life 1883-10-04 198 visits Life 1883-10-04
  • Life 1883-10-11 210 visits Life 1883-10-11
  • Life 1883-10-18 188 visits Life 1883-10-18
  • Life 1883-11-22 206 visits Life 1883-11-22
  • Life 1883-11-29 232 visits Life 1883-11-29
  • Life 1883-12-20 166 visits Life 1883-12-20
  • Life 1883-12-27 139 visits Life 1883-12-27
  • Life 1884-01-10 143 visits Life 1884-01-10
  • Life 1884-01-17 142 visits Life 1884-01-17
  • Life 1884-01-24 134 visits Life 1884-01-24
  • Life 1884-02-07 137 visits Life 1884-02-07
  • Life 1884-02-14 125 visits Life 1884-02-14
  • Life 1884-02-21 128 visits Life 1884-02-21
  • Life 1884-02-28 4263 visits Life 1884-02-28
  • Life 1884-03-13 122 visits Life 1884-03-13
  • Life 1884-03-20 156 visits Life 1884-03-20
  • Life 1884-04-03 170 visits Life 1884-04-03
  • Life 1884-04-10 129 visits Life 1884-04-10
  • Life 1884-05-01 179 visits Life 1884-05-01
  • Life 1884-05-22 122 visits Life 1884-05-22
  • Life 1884-06-19 3944 visits Life 1884-06-19
  • Life 1884-07-17 4182 visits Life 1884-07-17
  • Life 1885 First Half Title Page 3275 visits Life 1885 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1885-01-01 3035 visits Life 1885-01-01
  • Life 1885-01-15 2998 visits Life 1885-01-15
  • Life 1885-01-22 3052 visits Life 1885-01-22
  • Life 1885-02-12 2991 visits Life 1885-02-12
  • Life 1885-02-19 3025 visits Life 1885-02-19
  • Life 1885-02-26 2847 visits Life 1885-02-26
  • Life 1885-04-09 2808 visits Life 1885-04-09
  • Life 1885-04-30 2737 visits Life 1885-04-30
  • Life 1885-05-07 2958 visits Life 1885-05-07
  • Life 1885-06-18 2768 visits Life 1885-06-18
  • Life 1887-01-06 4096 visits Life 1887-01-06
  • Life 1887-01-13 2770 visits Life 1887-01-13
  • Life 1887-01-20 2731 visits Life 1887-01-20
  • Life 1887-01-27 2620 visits Life 1887-01-27
  • Life 1887-02-03 4327 visits Life 1887-02-03
  • Life 1887-02-10 2625 visits Life 1887-02-10
  • Life 1887-02-17 2710 visits Life 1887-02-17
  • Life 1887-02-24 2543 visits Life 1887-02-24
  • Life 1887-03-03 2641 visits Life 1887-03-03
  • Life 1887-03-10 2562 visits Life 1887-03-10
  • Life 1887-03-17 2507 visits Life 1887-03-17
  • Life 1887-03-24 2348 visits Life 1887-03-24
  • Life 1887-03-31 2376 visits Life 1887-03-31
  • Life 1887-04-07 2492 visits Life 1887-04-07
  • Life 1887-04-14 2231 visits Life 1887-04-14
  • Life 1887-04-21 1999 visits Life 1887-04-21
  • Life 1887-04-28 2160 visits Life 1887-04-28
  • Life 1887-05-05 1975 visits Life 1887-05-05
  • Life 1887-05-12 2039 visits Life 1887-05-12
  • Life 1887-05-19 2086 visits Life 1887-05-19
  • Life 1887-05-26 2193 visits Life 1887-05-26
  • Life 1887-06-02 2024 visits Life 1887-06-02
  • Life 1887-06-09 2074 visits Life 1887-06-09
  • Life 1887-06-16 2119 visits Life 1887-06-16
  • Life 1887-06-23 1941 visits Life 1887-06-23
  • Life 1887-06-30 2111 visits Life 1887-06-30
  • Life 1887-07-07 2158 visits Life 1887-07-07
  • Life 1887-07-14 2115 visits Life 1887-07-14
  • Life 1887-07-21 2253 visits Life 1887-07-21
  • Life 1887-07-28 1998 visits Life 1887-07-28
  • Life 1887-08-04 1860 visits Life 1887-08-04
  • Life 1887-08-11 1844 visits Life 1887-08-11
  • Life 1887-08-18 2098 visits Life 1887-08-18
  • Life 1887-08-25 1946 visits Life 1887-08-25
  • Life 1887-09-01 1836 visits Life 1887-09-01
  • Life 1887-09-08 1920 visits Life 1887-09-08
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