Life, 1920-10-21 · page 44 of 44
Life — October 21, 1920 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Columbia's Grafonola phonograph, emphasizing its "Non Set Automatic Stop" feature for dancing. The imagery shows couples dancing energetically to music from the machine—typical 1920s Jazz Age recreation. The grotesque jack-o'-lantern faces on the phonograph balls likely reference the publication date (October) and add whimsical Halloween theming rather than satirical commentary. The sales pitch targets dancers who want uninterrupted music: no need to manually stop the record or abandon your partner mid-dance. The advertisement mentions "leading stars of the stage" recording exclusively for Columbia, a common marketing strategy. Prices ($300–$2,100) indicate this was a luxury consumer product. This represents straightforward commercial advertising typical of *Life* magazine during the prosperous 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
_ -LIFE- : October 21,9 Columbia rafonola .ff she dances such-a-way” You'll never need to leave your favorite partner in the middle of a dance. With the Columbia Grafonola you can dance to the last lingering note and step. The Mon Set Auto- matic Stop takes care of that. This exclusive Columbia feature is at its best for dancing. Nothing to move or set or measure. Just start the Grafonola and it plays and stops itself. The leading stars of the stage make records exclusively for Columbia Standard Models up to $300 Period Designs up to $2100 COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE Co., New York Canadian Factory: Toronto comicbooks.com