# LIFE magazine cover dates

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-magazine-cover-dates/475811>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 5, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-magazine-cover-dates/475811 "2008-12-05T04:05:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-magazine-cover-dates/475811/1 "2008-12-05T04:05:19Z")

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Exactly how many days postdated was the cover date on LIFE magazine (1937-1972)? For example, an issue with the cover date “December 6” — on what date was it actually published?

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-magazine-cover-dates/475811/2 "2008-12-05T12:24:40Z")

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From the (Saturday) 14 October 1967 _Northwest Arkansas Times_

> [@](#):
>
> An editorial to appear in Life magazine proposes a pause in the bombings of North Vietnam with the exception of the southern provinces adjacent to the demilitarized zone.  
> The editorial–to appear in the issue dated Oct. 30 and due on newsstands next Monday, is a change in Life policy.

My feeling is that they were talking about Monday, **October 23** as being the newsstand date.

From a (Wednesday) 12 June 1940 newspaper story, we get

> [@](#):
>
> Life magazine was temporarily restrained in federal court today from publication of its next issue because of the alleged unauthorized use of a full-page picture of Charlie Chaplin as “The Dictator.”  
> The issue dated June 17 normally would come out Thursday.

My reading of this is that the June 17 issue was to hit the newsstand on Thursday, June 13th. (ed–Just read another story which confirms this)

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-magazine-cover-dates/475811/3 "2008-12-05T13:23:34Z")

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In general, magazines are dated according to the day they go off sales. This developed as a convenience of the newsdealer, who was able to pull any magazines past their date.

Thus, a weekly magazine with a date of December 6 first hit the stands on November 29.