Life, 1918-03-21 · page 3 of 56
Life — March 21, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **advertising, not satire or editorial content**. It's a full-page Columbia Grafonola (phonograph) advertisement from *Life* magazine. The ad uses a domestic leisure scenario to market the product: a well-dressed salesman demonstrates the machine to a middle-class family in their home. The headline "Take a Holiday and Hear the Columbia Grafonola" positions phonograph ownership as aspirational and accessible entertainment. The copy encourages potential buyers to visit Columbia dealers, audition records, and experience the machine casually—framing record-buying as a pleasant, pressure-free shopping experience. Pricing is listed as $18 to $250, with records up to $2. There is **no political satire or cartoon elements** on this page—it's straightforward commercial promotion aimed at early 20th-century consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
olumbia Grafonola Take a Holiday and Hear the Columbia Grafonola Go? to the Columbia dealer’s and make yourself at home. Play the instrument as if it were your own. Ask for any record in the list as if you owned them all. Play the ones you like as often as you want. Know the Columbia. Get acquainted with it, ask questions, take your time, and the experience of buying a phonograph will be one you'll always look back upon with pleasure. Columbia Grafonolas are priced at $18 to $250 Period designs up to $2100 COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY, New York Y xum | comicbooks.com