Life, 1929-05-03 · page 42 of 44
Life — May 3, 1929 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Life insurance advertisement**, not political satire. The page features a skeleton in formal attire as the main visual, alongside text promoting "A NEW LEASE ON LIFE FOR 3¢." The skeleton represents mortality and death—the traditional memento mori imagery. The ad's dark humor plays on this: by purchasing Life insurance, one can financially protect oneself against death's inevitability. The small figure labeled "whoopee" (suggesting carefree living) contrasts with the skeleton, implying that life insurance allows people to enjoy themselves without fear of leaving dependents destitute. The coupon structure and pricing (10 weeks for $1.00, etc.) indicate this is a mail-in subscription offer for Life magazine itself, which apparently sold life insurance policies to readers. The macabre skeleton-as-salesman was contemporary advertising humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
on a msurance Ten weeks $1.00; Canadian $1.20; Foreign $1.40 One year 85.00; Canadian $5.80; Foreign $6.60 comicbooks.com