Life, 1919-10-02 · page 48 of 48
Life — October 2, 1919 — page 48: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward advertisement for the Victrola phonograph, appearing in *Life* magazine. The ad uses aspirational marketing, claiming that distinguished opera singers (Caruso, Farrar, John McCormack, Galli-Curci, Alma Gluck) have chosen the Victrola as their preferred playback device. The image shows an elegant indoor scene of people listening to music together, positioning the machine as a marker of refined taste and cultural sophistication. The argument: households with "highly developed taste in art" inevitably choose Victrolas because the world's greatest musicians endorse them. The ad emphasizes wide price range ($12–$950) to suggest accessibility across class levels while maintaining the product's association with elite cultural authority. This reflects early 20th-century marketing strategy—leveraging celebrity endorsement and aspirational class positioning to sell consumer technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| [ heir inevitable choice -theV\CTROLA In those homes where good music has its most devoted hearers, you will invariably find the Victrola. Why? Because the highly developed taste in art is satisfied with noth- ing less than the best which the wide world has to offer. Logically and inevitably such a taste demands the instrument which Caruso has selected as his mouthpiece; which Farrar has selected; which John McCormack and Galli-Curci and Alma Gluck—and a host of other leaders—have selected to be their “other self,” to represent them, to carry | their golden message throughout the world. ! That instrument is the Victrola—the inevitable choice for your home. There are Victors and Victrolas in great variety from $12 to $950. {or Any Victor dealer will gladly demonstrate the Victrola and play e. any music for you. a Victor Talking Machine Co., Camden, N. J. comicbooks.commmt