Life, 1917-10-04 · page 44 of 44
Life — October 4, 1917 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **trademark protection advertisement**, not satire. The Victor Talking Machine Company uses Life magazine's platform to warn the public that "Victrola" is their exclusive brand name. The famous logo—a dog listening to a phonograph horn (trademarked as "His Master's Voice")—appears at top. The company's legal notice below addresses a common problem of the era: competitors were using the word "Victrola" generically to describe any phonograph, diluting Victor's brand identity. The text explicitly warns dealers that using "Victrola" to sell competing phonograph products is "misleading and illegal." This reflects early 20th-century trademark battles, when brand names risked becoming generic terms (like "aspirin" later did). The "Important Notice" emphasizes Victor's competitive advantage: their records and machines were specially coordinated through proprietary manufacturing—implying inferior synchronization with competitors' products. This advertisement reflects business concerns of WWI-era America, not political satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
October 4, 1917 REG. USS. PAT. OF _ A ————— So the public may know Victrola is the Registered Trade- mark of the Victor Talking Machine Company designating the products of this Company only. The use of the word Victrola upon or in the promotion or sale of any other Talking Machine or Phonograph products is misleading and illegal. Ask any Victor dealer to play for you any kind of music you wish to hear and to demonstrate the various styles of the Victor and Victrola—$1o to $400. Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, N. J., U.S. A. Important Notice. Victor Records and Victor Machines are scientifically coordi- nated and synchronized by our special processes of manufacture, and their use, one with the other, is absolutely essential to a perfect Victor reproduction. Victor Supremacy comicbooksseqy