BOOKWATCHER

Follow the life magazine tumblr. Pretty nice.

life:

11. Life (1940-1965)

Life is just a magical blend of content that really should have been in Parade and photographs that should stay forever in the Smithsonian. Once it became a weekly, Ed K. Thompson used a trio of female editors and the pages improved under his reign. If they paid the right person for a feature, the writing could be incredible, but usually it wasn’t. Life went through many subtly different approaches, like a true variety show. One issue could be a mind-blowing meld of ultimate design and approachable prose, another would be as vapid as People. Throughout, the photography was the real show, bringing the impact of full color and the wide breadth of the world to American homes.

The weekly incarnation of LIFE magazine places at #11 on This Recording’s list of the 15 Best Print Magazine Runs of All Time. The entire piece, of course, is worth a read.