Opinion Forum

LIFE Magazine

September 28th, 2009

I suppose you have to be of a certain age to remember LIFE magazine. For me, LIFE and its photographs and stories were a big part of my youth, and I’ve always regretted its passing.

Now every issue of LIFE during its existence from 1936 to 1972 is available with a few clicks of your mouse. You can pick an issue from a period that was important to you — if you’re old enough — and read about events and look at photos of that time. If you’re not old enough to remember LIFE when it was still being published, this is a good way to get a sense of how people lived in “ancient” times. Like the famous photo at left, you’ll find many photos that you’re probably familiar with, and you’ll see many others that will be wonderful discoveries.

I also like the old advertisements, many of them very funny when read from today’s perspective, and many of them so politically incorrect that it’s impossible not to smile.

Brandon Badger, Google’s Product Manager, wrote on September 23:

I’m excited to announce that starting today, visitors to Google Books will be able to search and browse even more magazines on Google Books. We’ve partnered with Life Inc. to digitize LIFE Magazine’s entire run as a weekly: over 1,860 issues, covering the years from 1936 to 1972. Most of us are familiar with the term “American Century,” but chances are few of us have been able to read Henry Luce’s defining editorial in its original context, a 1941 issue of LIFE. You’ll be able to find and read Leonard McCombe’s iconic cover and photo essay on a Texas Cowboy and Richard Meryman’s famous last interview with Marilyn Monroe.

Take a look at LIFE. You’ll enjoy it.

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Google Books, LIFE Magazine
Categories: Arts, Life, Media, News | Comments (3) | Home

3 Responses to “LIFE Magazine”

larry | September 28th, 2009 at 8:34 am

Tom
Thank You, Thank You and bless your heart.
I spent many hours reading Life and the other magazines of that era. What a great time of innocence it was. Where and how did we go wrong? Hopefully Colliers and Saturday Evening Post will join Life on Google. Tom, do you remember the little Weekly Reader and Grit newspapers from the same time frame?

Tom | September 28th, 2009 at 9:15 am

I do, indeed, remember all those publications. I’d also like to see LOOK on Google or somewhere else.

It was a more innocent time, like you say. That doesn’t mean nothing was wrong, of course, but at least it was simpler and we had a much better sense of what was right and what was wrong. We didn’t always do what was right, but at least the difference was much more clear.