I see a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king.

the chicken head is a pretty awesome cover. the rest were quite awful.

They're all really kind of hilarious.

I don't know how many Farkers were even alive, much less aware of Life, when the magazine was still bringing its A game; I guess I was in on sort of the tail end of that era, but I still remember leafing through a stack of Lifes (Lives?) looking for grist for a grade-school collage project and finding a photo of Yukio Mishima and his boyfriend, post-seppuku, with their severed heads sitting on a tatami mat. Good times, baby.

The Jerry Garcia caption made me giggle.

Ugh, the picture of Elvis's dead body lying on the bathroom floor is completely tasteless. How do they put that on the cover of a national magazine?

That indian head one was ridiculously bad, most of the rest seemed kinda meh.

...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

Mostly, they were just throwing past editors under the bus. Many of those covers were clever. I would think at least one or two covers under the current editorial regime might make the list.

That's the magazine you buy your parents to remind them how old they are, right?

In 1958, LIFE sent its star photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt -- the man who famously captured the sailor kissing the nurse on VJ day in Times Square

I wonder if she thought about all of the diseases she could have been contracting...

♪♫
Oh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me
♫♪♫

Why does

look so much like #12, yet they are like 17 years apart?

reddfrogg: I kinda liked the one of Harry Truman. It looked like he was having a good time.

I agree I thought that was a great cover

OldManDownDRoad: Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

At first glance I thought the guy on the right was taking a photo with his cell phone . . .

Sort of an indication of how prevalent modern technology is now. I made the same assumption the first time I saw the photo, and thought the heads looked a little fake.

I rather liked the rooster, bounty of food, Good life, and Truman.

They were pretty bad, and I like the idea that they can laugh at themselves.

The Christmas one with the girl and the angels is seriously terrifying.

Silly slideshow caption writer -- It's "lutenist", not "lutist".

"So you want to hunt for Uranium"

I have got to read that article.

Those 20 are the worst? The snarky captions are the worst part IMHO. Also, Truman is wearing an aloha shirt, not a muumuu.

Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

How did the second guy get his head on the mat?

Good think Ansel Adams moved on to taking photos of scenery.

DoBeDoBeDo: Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

How did the second guy get his head on the mat?

On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp - the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces.[10] Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'état restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task. After several failed attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima. Morita himself attempted to commit seppuku that day as well. When he failed, Koga once again performed the kaishakunin duty.

DoBeDoBeDo: Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

How did the second guy get his head on the mat?

There was a third guy.

i like the one with the cock.

Horrible

_{/somebody had to}

Jerry: And it's just a chicken head?
George: Absolutely, just a chicken head!
Jerry: So you're saying, I go in to Life magazine, and tell them I got this idea for a cover of a chicken head?

Seems like the stretch from the middle of 1939 to the end of 1938, and the late 50s were pretty rough at Life.

The Flexecutioner: the chicken head is a pretty awesome cover.

And the answer to a great bar bet trivia question: $50 says family-friendly, wholesome Life Magazine featured a giant, naked cock on it's cover! No, really! Don't believe me? Bet on it!

FTFA: That's the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, in a muumuu.

As a big, fat party guy with a fondness for Hawaii and its shirts, I must point out that is not a muumuu. It is an aloha shirt. Pet peave.

This one is awesome. I'd love to sit across from a guy on a train, and he's reading this.

aw somebody worked really hard on those you guys..

no mention of them naming hitler man of the year.

DonCaballero: "So you want to hunt for Uranium"

I have got to read that article.

That's exactly what I was thinking as well. Ahh, the good old days...

Although I have to admit that many of these covers aren't all that bad, just a little dated. I too thought that the rooster cover was awesome.

StaceyNC: DoBeDoBeDo: Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

How did the second guy get his head on the mat?

On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp - the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces.[10] Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'état restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task. After several failed attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima. Morita himself attempted to commit seppuku that day as well. When he failed, Koga once again performed the kaishakunin duty.

Coup ku?

DoBeDoBeDo: Mr. Toadcheese: ...and found it! [Probably NSFW]

How did the second guy get his head on the mat?

With a little help from his friends...

phaseolus: Silly slideshow caption writer -- It's "lutenist", not "lutist".

Given what I've seen at Ren faires I've always thought it should be "lout".

fredsnake: no mention of them naming hitler man of the year.

That would have been Time magazine, Sparky.

November 7, 1955
LIFE readers get their first glimpse of Jerry Garcia.