Life Magazine

[HadleyH]

And that mad search for escape by the Lost Generation in Paris, the Bright Young Things of London, the decadence of Weimar Berlin, and the Jazz Age of the Roaring Twenties. Action, Reaction. When did LIFE start by the way?

Haversack.

You know, I would have been the happiest person on earth, living through those years Perhaps in my next life I'll come back as a flapper lol
I have no idea when LIFE magazine started.

 

[Haversack]

HadleyH wrote: "You know, I would have been the happiest person on earth, living through those years. Perhaps in my next life I'll come back as a flapper"

If one had the means and/or was living in the right place, they were wildly entertaining times. Part of my family came to the States by being in service back in the 10s, 20s, and 30s. I remember hearing stories from my grandfather and great aunt about travelling and some of the parties that were thrown - Not only by the employers, but also by the staff.

Another factor which really opened up life for the average American back then was the affordability of the automobile. There was not only the sense of freedom of the open road, (cue Mr. Toad), but there was also the very real freedom from the family and neighborhood's eyes. One could quickly and easily get away and be effectively alone with another person. I remember reading a few years back a paper which claimed that the sexual revolution really began in the 1920s in part due to the freedom of the private automobile.

Haversack.

 

[HadleyH]

HadleyH wrote: "You know, I would have been the happiest person on earth, living through those years. Perhaps in my next life I'll come back as a flapper"

If one had the means and/or was living in the right place, they were wildly entertaining times. Part of my family came to the States by being in service back in the 10s, 20s, and 30s. I remember hearing stories from my grandfather and great aunt about travelling and some of the parties that were thrown - Not only by the employers, but also by the staff.

Another factor which really opened up life for the average American back then was the affordability of the automobile. There was not only the sense of freedom of the open road, (cue Mr. Toad), but there was also the very real freedom from the family and neighborhood's eyes. One could quickly and easily get away and be effectively alone with another person. I remember reading a few years back a paper which claimed that the sexual revolution really began in the 1920s in part due to the freedom of the private automobile.

Haversack.

Exactly. Like they said then, "let the good times roll".
But more to the point, and this is F.Scott Fitzgerald's "This side of Paradise":
"Here was a new generation...grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought,all faiths in man shaken."-

And the twenties were born. :eusa_clap

 

[jamespowers]

Exactly. Like they said then, "let the good times roll".
But more to the point, and this is F.Scott Fitzgerald's "This side of Paradise":
"Here was a new generation...grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought,all faiths in man shaken."-

And the twenties were born. :eusa_clap

Sounds exactly like the 60s to me.

Regards,

J

 

[LizzieMaine]

The picture-magazine version of Life started in 1936 -- taking over the name of a venerable old humor magazine that began in the 1880s. Issues of the "old Life" from the twenties, by the way, are fascinating little time capsules of the flapper era, with saucy cartoons, double-entendre jokes, editorials ridiculing Prohibition, and reviews of current movies and plays. It was quite the magazine for Bright Young Things of the day to read...

 

[Jack Armstrong]

Not only do the originals from the the 1930's give plenty of candid shots of how people really looked, but you see something of the rather more open minded America that would become quite a bit more puritanical (or hypocritical if you prefer) as WWII began. I've a number of pre-war LIFE issues that feature a surprising amount of nudity in both adverstisments (It's o.k. because it's a fantasy/mythological reference,right?) and journalistic.

You're absolutely right about this. Consider also the remarkable amount of nudity on display at the New York World's Fair, especially in its second year. Contrary to the popular notion that prudery increases directly with the distance one recedes in time from the present day, our forebears were actually quite matter-of-fact about such things.

 

[scotrace]

Jim Lileks had this to say today in the Bleat:

"I fell in love with old Life magazines at the Fargo Public Library while in high school, and had a mystical moment when I laid my hands on an actual copy of the first issue of Life. I mean, I touched it. I touched something from 1936. Somehow that was different from shaking hands with your dad. Completely different. So many things in my life have changed since then, but I have the same emotions when I open the old magazines. They’re yelling at ghosts. They’re talking to someone who isn’t there. They’re not talking to me. I hear what they’re saying, and I want to join the conversation, but they’re all dead, and these are just echoes, just wind in the door."

Nice.

 

[Fletch]

Sounds as tho he feels a real and palpable alienation from those times. That surprises me, considering how obviously devoted and studious he is about them. I would think he'd feel a warm pull, something more than just archeological fascination.

Maybe he needs to drop in here at the Lounge, that is if he can leave his thoroughly modern brand of politics at the checkstand.

 

[Twitch]

Life will never make a comeback due to the fact that the country is obsessed with purient interests sated by People and Enquirer[huh]

 

[Fletch]

Also - the widecast, something-for-everybody-all-on-one-page, common American culture is just about dead.

At best, what's left is
a) a lot of socio-econo-demographic niche cultures;
b) (• YOU ARE HERE) a maze of subcultures offering various degrees of intellectual and social engagement and/or geekitude;
c) a few mass events that pretend to be for the whole nation, but really pretty much cater to a mostly white, mostly conservative, and entirely middle-to-lower-middle-class bloc - the group most likely to think it is the whole nation.

 

[Fletch]

Consider also the remarkable amount of nudity on display at the New York World's Fair, especially in its second year.

Of course, the Fair closed 1939 running badly in the red. The 1940 Fair was largely revamped to put the keynote on folksy pop appeal rather than eat-your-spinach futurism. There was a lot less Tomorrow and a lot more Today, because all of a sudden Tomorrow wasn't looking so hot.

1939

1940

 

[jamespowers]

Also - the widecast, something-for-everybody-all-on-one-page, common American culture is just about dead.

At best, what's left is
b) (• YOU ARE HERE) a maze of subcultures offering various degrees of intellectual and social engagement and/or geekitude

Gee, thanks dude. :kick:

 

[Twitch]

Right-ee-o Fletch. The amount of periodicals published today to serve every niche and esoteric interest is astounding. Publications genres have become compartmentalized to an unbelievable degree.

 

[Fletch]

Gee, thanks dude. :kick:

Hey, I never kicked you. Of course, my hightop Army shoes haven't arrived yet!