LIFE Hits the Stands


If we had 40 pages of striking photographic ads plus 40 pages of editorial photos, then there could be little doubt that the reader was getting a remarkable package of photographs for his dime.

Henry R. Luce during the LIFE planning stages (Wainwright 29)


When the first copy of LIFE hit the market it was sold on the stands for a dime and a subscription was $3.50. After February 1st of 1937 the subscription price went up to $4.50 a year. (LIFE 1/4/37)

By 1958 the price of the newsstand magazine had gone up to twenty five cents and and introductory subscription was $3.99 for 39 issues.

Today LIFE sells on the stands for $3.95 and a subscription sells for $35.00, that includes 13 issues and one free trial issue.


When LIFE originally sold for 10 cents it hardly seemed like a profitable venture because it was an expensive magazine to produce but Luce wanted to keep the price "within reach of the broad audience he felt sure was fascinated with pictures." (Wainwright 32)

There was so much emphasis on the price for the magazine that the first prospectus was actually called "Dime." It had a subtitle called "The Show-book of the Worlds," but the executives did not like it. For many it seemed two magazines, "Dime" and "Time," was just a little too much. (Wainwright 29-30)

Read about how LIFE gots its name

Although at first it seemed that Luce was not choosing the most lucrative plan, his projection for grabbing the broad audience was right on. 380,000 copies of the first issue were printed for paid circulation. By December 7, 460,000 had been printed and by December 28, 600,000 copies had been printed. In the January 4, 1937, the two pages that listed the above statistics read "With this issue LIFE PRINTS 650,000 copies. The demand is getting greater with each issue." (LIFE 1/4/37 2-3)

This page also listed comments by people and news agencies about the sale of the magazine. Here are some that were printed:

"We had a complete sell-out of LIFE on December 12th. We could have used 3000 more copies." --Harry R. Wood, Omaha

"Demand for LIFE is increasing. Last issue was a complete sell-out within 6 hours after dealers received copies. It is hard to pacify the dealers that we are unable to supply at all." --The Osage News Co., Tulsa, OK

"We continue to have a sell-out in all instances. Have not come even close to supplying the demand in either city or country trade."
--The South-West News Co., Kansas City, MO.



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