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 408 visits Life 1883 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1883-01-04 8949 visits Life 1883-01-04
  • Life 1883-01-04a 233 visits Life 1883-01-04a
  • Life 1883-02-15 236 visits Life 1883-02-15
  • Life 1883-07-05 224 visits Life 1883-07-05
  • Life 1883-07-26 218 visits Life 1883-07-26
  • Life 1883-08-16 185 visits Life 1883-08-16
  • Life 1883-08-30 200 visits Life 1883-08-30
  • Life 1883-09-06 193 visits Life 1883-09-06
  • Life 1883-09-13 180 visits Life 1883-09-13
  • Life 1883-09-20 181 visits Life 1883-09-20
  • Life 1883-10-04 184 visits Life 1883-10-04
  • Life 1883-10-11 198 visits Life 1883-10-11
  • Life 1883-10-18 175 visits Life 1883-10-18
  • Life 1883-11-22 193 visits Life 1883-11-22
  • Life 1883-11-29 219 visits Life 1883-11-29
  • Life 1883-12-20 153 visits Life 1883-12-20
  • Life 1883-12-27 126 visits Life 1883-12-27
  • Life 1884-01-10 130 visits Life 1884-01-10
  • Life 1884-01-17 128 visits Life 1884-01-17
  • Life 1884-01-24 119 visits Life 1884-01-24
  • Life 1884-02-07 123 visits Life 1884-02-07
  • Life 1884-02-14 112 visits Life 1884-02-14
  • Life 1884-02-21 115 visits Life 1884-02-21
  • Life 1884-02-28 4236 visits Life 1884-02-28
  • Life 1884-03-13 108 visits Life 1884-03-13
  • Life 1884-03-20 142 visits Life 1884-03-20
  • Life 1884-04-03 157 visits Life 1884-04-03
  • Life 1884-04-10 116 visits Life 1884-04-10
  • Life 1884-05-01 166 visits Life 1884-05-01
  • Life 1884-05-22 108 visits Life 1884-05-22
  • Life 1884-06-19 3929 visits Life 1884-06-19
  • Life 1884-07-17 4157 visits Life 1884-07-17
  • Life 1885 First Half Title Page 3255 visits Life 1885 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1885-01-01 2999 visits Life 1885-01-01
  • Life 1885-01-15 2973 visits Life 1885-01-15
  • Life 1885-01-22 3024 visits Life 1885-01-22
  • Life 1885-02-12 2961 visits Life 1885-02-12
  • Life 1885-02-19 2991 visits Life 1885-02-19
  • Life 1885-02-26 2825 visits Life 1885-02-26
  • Life 1885-04-09 2786 visits Life 1885-04-09
  • Life 1885-04-30 2715 visits Life 1885-04-30
  • Life 1885-05-07 2932 visits Life 1885-05-07
  • Life 1885-06-18 2742 visits Life 1885-06-18
  • Life 1887-01-06 4082 visits Life 1887-01-06
  • Life 1887-01-13 2758 visits Life 1887-01-13
  • Life 1887-01-20 2718 visits Life 1887-01-20
  • Life 1887-01-27 2608 visits Life 1887-01-27
  • Life 1887-02-03 4316 visits Life 1887-02-03
  • Life 1887-02-10 2611 visits Life 1887-02-10
  • Life 1887-02-17 2698 visits Life 1887-02-17
  • Life 1887-02-24 2532 visits Life 1887-02-24
  • Life 1887-03-03 2629 visits Life 1887-03-03
  • Life 1887-03-10 2551 visits Life 1887-03-10
  • Life 1887-03-17 2495 visits Life 1887-03-17
  • Life 1887-03-24 2337 visits Life 1887-03-24
  • Life 1887-03-31 2364 visits Life 1887-03-31
  • Life 1887-04-07 2479 visits Life 1887-04-07
  • Life 1887-04-14 2214 visits Life 1887-04-14
  • Life 1887-04-21 1987 visits Life 1887-04-21
  • Life 1887-04-28 2148 visits Life 1887-04-28
  • Life 1887-05-05 1963 visits Life 1887-05-05
  • Life 1887-05-12 2027 visits Life 1887-05-12
  • Life 1887-05-19 2075 visits Life 1887-05-19
  • Life 1887-05-26 2182 visits Life 1887-05-26
  • Life 1887-06-02 2013 visits Life 1887-06-02
  • Life 1887-06-09 2063 visits Life 1887-06-09
  • Life 1887-06-16 2105 visits Life 1887-06-16
  • Life 1887-06-23 1929 visits Life 1887-06-23
  • Life 1887-06-30 2095 visits Life 1887-06-30
  • Life 1887-07-07 2143 visits Life 1887-07-07
  • Life 1887-07-14 2101 visits Life 1887-07-14
  • Life 1887-07-21 2238 visits Life 1887-07-21
  • Life 1887-07-28 1985 visits Life 1887-07-28
  • Life 1887-08-04 1844 visits Life 1887-08-04
  • Life 1887-08-11 1830 visits Life 1887-08-11
  • Life 1887-08-18 2084 visits Life 1887-08-18
  • Life 1887-08-25 1935 visits Life 1887-08-25
  • Life 1887-09-01 1822 visits Life 1887-09-01
  • Life 1887-09-08 1907 visits Life 1887-09-08
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