Life, 1915-05-27 · page 3 of 44
Life — May 27, 1915 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is actually **not satire or political cartoon**—it's a straightforward advertisement for Victor phonographs and records, likely from the 1920s. The ad features a woman operating a Victor gramophone, promoting their "changeable needle system." The marketing pitch emphasizes consumer control: buyers could adjust volume and tone quality by selecting different needle types (full-tone, half-tone, or fibre needle), adapting records to different room acoustics and personal preferences. The "His Master's Voice" logo appears at bottom left—Victor's famous trademark featuring a dog listening to a gramophone. This represents early audio technology marketing, emphasizing technological sophistication and user customization as luxury features. Prices ranged $10–$250, indicating a premium product for middle-to-upper class consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“How would you like to hear this record - Loud, Sott, or m Subdued ? The Victor system of changeable needles enables you to meet every acoustic condition It gives you perfect control of the,tone volume and enables you to adapt every record to the acoustic limitations of any room. The different kinds of Victor Needles give you different and distinct gradations of tone. Without this changeable needle system, it would be necessary to have several instruments, each with a different tone, to give such variation, You can use the full-tone needle, the half-tone needle, or the fibre needle, to suit the individual beauty of each record to its particular acoustic surroundings. You choose the volume of tone and play each record as loud or soft as you personally wish to hear it, without interfering in any way with the artist’s interpretation. Go to any Victor dealer's and hear your favorite music played with the different needles and you will fully appreciate the intinite variety of charm afforded by the Victor * . im system of tone control. HIS MASTERS YOICE There are Victors and Victrolas in great variety of styles from Sto to $250. Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, N. J., U. S. A. Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Distributors New Victor Records demonstrated at all dealers on the 28th of each month