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The first issue of TIME, dated Mar. 3, 1923, lacked the distinctive red border for which the magazine has come to be known. The cover subject was the now-obscure Joseph G. Cannon (the former House Speaker). The whole thing was only 32 pages, including the front and back covers. There are only a few photographs or illustrations, and nary a chart or graphic in sight.
And yet it’s recognizable as what it still is today: a look at the week’s news, from a serious look at national affairs to pages of arts reviews to a tongue-in-cheek wrap-up of weird local tidbits. The magazine contains word of the first helicopter, a possible change in divorce laws, the release of the film Adam’s Rib, a new one-cent cigarette tax in Indiana and the latest figures in German reparation payments—not to mention a critical trashing of The Waste Land.
TIME subscribers can access that issue in the TIME Vault, complete with the original layouts, art and advertisements. To access the issue, simply click here
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