Life, 1917-04-05 · page 3 of 70
Life — April 5, 1917 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Columbia Grafonola advertisement**, not political satire. The page features a glamorous photograph of a woman playing a portable organ (labeled "Portative Organ 14th Century"), positioned above promotional text for the grafonola—an early phonograph/record player priced at $150. The ad claims the Columbia Grafonola reproduces music with such fidelity that it "transforms records into *reality*," and cites famous classical musicians (Barrientos, Lazaro, Sembarch, and others) as endorsers. The tagline "Hearing is Believing" emphasizes audio quality. The decorative border and historical organ image appear designed to suggest the product's connection to classical musical tradition and sophistication. This is commercial marketing rather than political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SCOR USI TO FSE TS} { | { i { i HE TONE of the Columbia Grafonola is the supreme test of its in- comparable musical quality. Rich, round, vividly true and lifelike, it transforms records into rea/ity—giving back to you the artist himself; his personality, his supreme art in all its individual perfection. It is the chosen instrument of Barrientos, Lazaro, Sembach; the ideal of Ysaye, Casals, Hofmann, Godowsky, Parlow, De Pachmann—it is the great interpreter of the world’s master musicians. And once you hear the Columbia Grafonola, playing the Columbia Records of these or other great Columbia artists, it will be your choice, too. For ‘‘Hearing is Believing.”’ ely Bi) Columbia