Life, 1916-01-06 · page 3 of 48
Life — January 6, 1916 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **Columbia Records advertisement**, not satirical content. The upper illustration shows a classroom or school setting where children are listening to Columbia Records on a Gramophone, with teachers or authority figures present. The advertising text emphasizes that Columbia Records and Gramofonolas have been officially adopted by New York City schools based on competitive testing proving Columbia's superiority in "tone." The copy argues these records aid children's mental development and education. The lower portion shows a Columbia Grafonola Model 110 phonograph priced at $110. This represents early 20th-century corporate marketing leveraging institutional endorsements (school adoption) to promote consumer products to middle-class families. There is no political satire evident on this page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HE educational and cultural possibilities of Columbia Records and Columbia Grafonolas make them as indispensable in the home as the country’s fore- most authorities consider them in the school. The official adoption of Columbia Grafonolas and Columbia Records by over three hundred New York City schools alone was the logical result of a most exacting series of competitive tests, which proved the Columbia unquestionably superior in foe. There can be no higher endorsement than this—nor greater recognition of what the Columbia has come to mean in the mental development of the child. You will realize what it means in pure happiness for your children by having them hear Columbia Records on the Columbia Grafonola at y >ur nearest Columbia dealer’s store. New Columbia Records on sale the 20th of every month Columbia Graphophone Co. Woolworth Bldg., New York Columbia Grafonola 110 rice, $110 comicbooks.com