Life, 1918-04-11 · page 44 of 44
Life — April 11, 1918 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a political cartoon or satire**—it's a **commercial advertisement** for Victor Victrola recording equipment, circa April 11, 1921. The page features **Amelita Galli-Curci**, an Italian opera singer who made her historic American debut at Chicago performing Gilda in Verdi's *Rigoletto*. The advertisement celebrates her recent triumph and announces that she records **exclusively for Victrola** (a leading phonograph/record player brand). The marketing pitch emphasizes that a singer of her caliber choosing Victrola proves the company's "supremacy" in recording technology—essentially using her prestige to sell expensive phonographs ($10-$400, substantial sums in 1921). The testimonial quote about her electrifying debut performance serves as endorsement by association. The "His Master's Voice" Victor logo is visible at bottom left. This represents typical early-20th-century celebrity endorsement advertising, where major artists' exclusive contracts were publicized as proof of product quality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Galli-Curci as Gilda in Rigoletto Galli-Gurci makes Victrola Records exclusively « “When she started the great aria of the second act she was still an unknown quantity. When she had finished it the first time she was the idol of the house.” Thus wrote a reviewer of Galli-Curci’s American début at Chicago as Gilda in Rigoletto. That début was historic. It w: scene of tumult and wild enthusiasm, Seldom has any singer received such an ovation on her first appear- eldom has any singer's subsequent fame spread so fast and wide as Galli-Curci makes records only for the Victrola. That was a foregone con- clusion when she took her place securely among the greatest singers of the world. No lover of truly great and beautiful singing will long deny himself the pleasure of Galli-Curci’s Victrola Records—true transcripts of her vivid art, ranging from the most complex and thrilling coloratura arias to the tenderest and simplest lyrics of the heart. Ask your Victor dealer to play them for you. Victors and Victrolas—$1o to $400. Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, N. J., U.S. A. Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal, Canadian Disteilators > Victor Supremacy comicbooks “HIS MASTERS VOICE” ALC US PAT OFF