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.

Quick Links by year:
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
  • Life 1883 First Half Title Page 429 visits Life 1883 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1883-01-04 9033 visits Life 1883-01-04
  • Life 1883-01-04a 251 visits Life 1883-01-04a
  • Life 1883-02-15 255 visits Life 1883-02-15
  • Life 1883-07-05 242 visits Life 1883-07-05
  • Life 1883-07-26 238 visits Life 1883-07-26
  • Life 1883-08-16 203 visits Life 1883-08-16
  • Life 1883-08-30 219 visits Life 1883-08-30
  • Life 1883-09-06 212 visits Life 1883-09-06
  • Life 1883-09-13 198 visits Life 1883-09-13
  • Life 1883-09-20 198 visits Life 1883-09-20
  • Life 1883-10-04 201 visits Life 1883-10-04
  • Life 1883-10-11 215 visits Life 1883-10-11
  • Life 1883-10-18 191 visits Life 1883-10-18
  • Life 1883-11-22 214 visits Life 1883-11-22
  • Life 1883-11-29 236 visits Life 1883-11-29
  • Life 1883-12-20 171 visits Life 1883-12-20
  • Life 1883-12-27 146 visits Life 1883-12-27
  • Life 1884-01-10 149 visits Life 1884-01-10
  • Life 1884-01-17 146 visits Life 1884-01-17
  • Life 1884-01-24 138 visits Life 1884-01-24
  • Life 1884-02-07 144 visits Life 1884-02-07
  • Life 1884-02-14 130 visits Life 1884-02-14
  • Life 1884-02-21 133 visits Life 1884-02-21
  • Life 1884-02-28 4273 visits Life 1884-02-28
  • Life 1884-03-13 129 visits Life 1884-03-13
  • Life 1884-03-20 165 visits Life 1884-03-20
  • Life 1884-04-03 174 visits Life 1884-04-03
  • Life 1884-04-10 133 visits Life 1884-04-10
  • Life 1884-05-01 185 visits Life 1884-05-01
  • Life 1884-05-22 129 visits Life 1884-05-22
  • Life 1884-06-19 3948 visits Life 1884-06-19
  • Life 1884-07-17 4193 visits Life 1884-07-17
  • Life 1885 First Half Title Page 3279 visits Life 1885 First Half Title Page
  • Life 1885-01-01 3054 visits Life 1885-01-01
  • Life 1885-01-15 3011 visits Life 1885-01-15
  • Life 1885-01-22 3070 visits Life 1885-01-22
  • Life 1885-02-12 3003 visits Life 1885-02-12
  • Life 1885-02-19 3042 visits Life 1885-02-19
  • Life 1885-02-26 2855 visits Life 1885-02-26
  • Life 1885-04-09 2814 visits Life 1885-04-09
  • Life 1885-04-30 2747 visits Life 1885-04-30
  • Life 1885-05-07 2970 visits Life 1885-05-07
  • Life 1885-06-18 2785 visits Life 1885-06-18
  • Life 1887-01-06 4100 visits Life 1887-01-06
  • Life 1887-01-13 2775 visits Life 1887-01-13
  • Life 1887-01-20 2736 visits Life 1887-01-20
  • Life 1887-01-27 2624 visits Life 1887-01-27
  • Life 1887-02-03 4333 visits Life 1887-02-03
  • Life 1887-02-10 2630 visits Life 1887-02-10
  • Life 1887-02-17 2715 visits Life 1887-02-17
  • Life 1887-02-24 2547 visits Life 1887-02-24
  • Life 1887-03-03 2644 visits Life 1887-03-03
  • Life 1887-03-10 2568 visits Life 1887-03-10
  • Life 1887-03-17 2512 visits Life 1887-03-17
  • Life 1887-03-24 2352 visits Life 1887-03-24
  • Life 1887-03-31 2379 visits Life 1887-03-31
  • Life 1887-04-07 2497 visits Life 1887-04-07
  • Life 1887-04-14 2235 visits Life 1887-04-14
  • Life 1887-04-21 2004 visits Life 1887-04-21
  • Life 1887-04-28 2165 visits Life 1887-04-28
  • Life 1887-05-05 1980 visits Life 1887-05-05
  • Life 1887-05-12 2044 visits Life 1887-05-12
  • Life 1887-05-19 2090 visits Life 1887-05-19
  • Life 1887-05-26 2198 visits Life 1887-05-26
  • Life 1887-06-02 2027 visits Life 1887-06-02
  • Life 1887-06-09 2080 visits Life 1887-06-09
  • Life 1887-06-16 2124 visits Life 1887-06-16
  • Life 1887-06-23 1945 visits Life 1887-06-23
  • Life 1887-06-30 2114 visits Life 1887-06-30
  • Life 1887-07-07 2164 visits Life 1887-07-07
  • Life 1887-07-14 2119 visits Life 1887-07-14
  • Life 1887-07-21 2257 visits Life 1887-07-21
  • Life 1887-07-28 2003 visits Life 1887-07-28
  • Life 1887-08-04 1865 visits Life 1887-08-04
  • Life 1887-08-11 1848 visits Life 1887-08-11
  • Life 1887-08-18 2103 visits Life 1887-08-18
  • Life 1887-08-25 1953 visits Life 1887-08-25
  • Life 1887-09-01 1842 visits Life 1887-09-01
  • Life 1887-09-08 1925 visits Life 1887-09-08
Powered by Piwigo