Life, 1912-02-29 · page 40 of 40
Life — February 29, 1912 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. Columbia Phonograph Company promotes its gramophones and records by featuring prominent **opera and classical music artists** of the early 20th century—names like David Bispham, Mary Garden, and Josef Hofmann, who were celebrated concert performers of the era. The ad's strategy emphasizes **exclusivity**: only Columbia dealers can supply records by these "best known artists" and showcase the high-end "Regent" grafonola model. Three grafonola models are pictured, priced from $109 to $200—substantial sums indicating luxury products for affluent consumers. The numbered group photo suggests these are the featured artists. The message: owning a Columbia grafonola grants access to world-class musical performance in your home—a significant selling point in the pre-radio era when recorded music was novel and aspirational.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Company exclu 7 'David Bispham *Mary Garden ‘Lillian Nordica ‘Olive Fremstad *Alice Nielsen Josef Hofmann ‘Ellison Van Hoose “Bernice de Pasquali ‘Kitty Cheatham “Jose Mardones "Reed Miller ‘Rosa Olitzka “Xaver Scharwenka ''Carolina White ‘Ruth Vincent “Cecil Fanning "Margaret Keyes ' Alex. Heinemann EVEN THOUSAND Columbia dealers are prepared to piay for you any Double-Disc Record listed in our 200-page catalog, on any of the Columbia Graphophones or Grafonolas($ 17.50 to $200). But you must go 4 to a Columbia dealer. Columbia Grafonola “Baby Regeat "” $109 Columbia Grafonola > “*Regent Junior’? $150 TRADE WA NLY the Columbia dealer can supply you with records by these best known artists of the concert stage, and only a Columbia dealer {can show you the Grafonola “Regent”—the one incom- parable musical instrument. Columbia Grafonola COLUMBIA PHONOGRAPH CO., Gen’l ‘Regent "” $200 Box 270 Tribune Bldg., New York Toronto, McKinnon Blds- London: Earlsfield, S. W. Mexico City: 1, A Calle de Lopez No.7 comicbooks.com