Works copyrighted before 1964 had to have the copyright renewed sometime in the 28th year. If the copyright was not renewed the work is in the public domain. It is best to search 6 months before and after the required year. Some magazines are published the month before the cover date and some registrations may be delayed for a few months.
This March 28, 1927 issue of Time would have to be renewed in 1954. Online page scans of the Catalog of Copyright Entries, published by the US Copyright Office can be found here. http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/cce/
The search of the Renewals for Periodicals for 1953, 1954 and 1955 show no renewal entries for Time. The publishers, Time Inc., started renewing the copyrights of Time magazine in 1964 with the July 6, 1936 issue. Most (if not all) issues that were published before July 1936 are in the public domain.
The copyright on this magazine was not renewed and it is in the public domain.
Public domain works must be out of copyright in both the United States and in the source country of the work in order to be hosted on the Commons. If the work is not a U.S. work, the file must have an additional copyright tag indicating the copyright status in the source country. Note: This tag should not be used for sound recordings.PD-1923Public domain in the United States//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Time-magazine-cover-charles-dana-gibson.jpg