A Few Things I Know About LIFE...

LIFE Magazine: I have been collecting old copies lately, through tag sales, thrift shops, and eBay. At first, I just bought them for the great pictures, which make outstanding cigar and wine box projects.

Sophia Loren wine box. 1963 LIFE "Part Goddess, Part Imp, All Woman"

Mick Jagger Worship/Mockery Box, 1972 LIFE
"I said, 'Is there something on MY HEAD?'"

Johnny Cash box (get it? get it?) 1969 LIFE

Cigar box purse "The Swinging Life of Yamaha" LIFE 1966

Back side of purse: from ad, "I said if I found a better tasting cigarette, I'd eat my hat!"

Imagine how fabulous this project will look...

Jane Fonda as Barbarella, LIFE 1968. I really need to see that movie one day.

I HAD to have this one, red X at the top at least kept the price under $10.

Lauren Bacall, LIFE 1944

And, so, one thing leads to another--I'm hella competitive when it comes to auctions of lots on eBay--and now, I find myself in possession of a library of LIFE.

Don't lets pretend this is the entirety of my collection.

Weeks ago, scrounging for images slowly turned into diligent study of this collection. So, here are some things I've learned about LIFE... 

1. The articles are fascinating-- in 1934, Albert Einstein stares you down from one page as you read a not-too-dumbed-down version of the theory of relativity; in 1942, military wives show how to reinvent yourself while he's off to war; in the 1950s, twenty pages are devoted to explaining the allure of Existentialism in a post-WWII world; in 1970, new fathers burble about their desire to be a new kind of father, earnest and involved.

"Lonely Housewife" December, 1942 LIFE

2. Nobody's that innocent, ever, of gawking at girls...and I mean girls. I look at these pictures and suddenly I can hear Pink Floyd groaning, "Ooooh, I need a dirty girl."

"Shirley Temple Grows Up," LIFE 1943

Cool it, Humbert! Lolita--I mean, Shirley--is just 13 years old.

Shoot, this isn't even trying to be subliminal. "Extra Pleasure" from "17% Extra Smoking"?
Sure, sure. That's what you're selling.

"Blackstone Cigars--the choice of successful men."
Insert your tired Bill Clinton joke here:_________

 By the 60s, the girls start looking back at ya, Mr. Blackstone, and they're not entirely pleased with what they see.

I think the blonde is Cheryl Teigs, but check out the resting bitch face on the redhead. I love her.

 3. We've got a drinking problem.  And advertisers were alllll over that scene.

1966 again: After Smirnoff vodka martini #3, the old barman magically turns into this fine cowgirl.

Ed McMahon says: Pick a Pair (I'm in emotional despair)

4. We've got a constipation problem.

Europe. The Pacific. North Africa. The Bathroom. The American Struggle for Success in each of these places was EPIC.

No War Job for Nora. She's all blocked up and can't remember how to set fire to things with her welding tools.

On the other hand, "Mildred Makes the Grade" thanks to her highly effective laxative. It promises to get your pipes clean in "less than an hour." I imagine that Mildred's movement felt as comfortable as the tequila worm scene from Poltergeist.
I wonder how many times the police got called by neighbors who worried about the screams of scatological success coming from Mildred's place.

5. The early 1940s LIFE Magazines are treasures.

The 1942 Christmas ads alone will show you an America that resembles my mother's Syrian upbringing more than the good old Gotta Get It USA that raised most of us.



Mend and make do, Honey.

Santa says: I'm Sorry Son (you are NOT getting that bike).
And little Jimmy thinks, "Just for this, Old Man, I am going to buy EVERYTHING I want when I grow up." 

I really don't know what to do with all of this LIFE. It's absolutely cliché, but they've brought history back to life for me. I bought them to pillage, but now I want to protect them.

Copyright 2015, Tanya Monier