Judge, 1916-12-09 · page 28 of 28
Judge — December 9, 1916 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Christmas advertisement** for Columbia Records' gramophones, not political satire. The title "Ye Olde Minstrelle Outdone" compares medieval minstrels (who brought "tidings of great joy" at Christmas) to modern phonographs as gift-givers. The illustration shows three figures in medieval/Renaissance costume—likely representing traditional minstrels—beside a large gramophone, humorously suggesting the machine has replaced live musicians as the era's premier entertainment and gift. The advertisement pitches the Columbia Grafonola as an ideal Christmas present because it offers recorded music for all tastes, solving gift-giving challenges. It emphasizes the emotional appeal: music brings lasting joy, and the graphone offers variety to please different family members. This reflects early 20th-century marketing of recorded music technology as a luxury consumer good.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
¥ ee '\ Ye Olde Minstrelle Outdone” y : fen eal IE. minstrels who sang of the ‘tidings of great joy’’ in the ea Oz) days of long ago are supplanted by the minstrels of modern / ee) days, the Columbia Grafonola, with Columbia Records. Bsa The Columbia Grafonola truly brings “tidings of great joy” at Christmastide. There is no gift quite like it, no gift so welcome, no gift that couhl bring a more lasting joy. Give music this Christmas—a Columbia Grafonola; or an appro. priate assortment of Columbia Records to owners of instruments our dealer will gladly help you select them—and he has records to suit every taste. You know what your friends and your family like, so you can easily solve the gift question for all at your Columbia dealer's today. New Columbia Records on sale the 20th of every month The instrument illustrated above is the $200 Grafonola Prices in Canada plus duty