Life, 1920-11-04 · page 51 of 60
Life — November 4, 1920 — page 51: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Columbia's gramophone player and recording technology. The page features **Jeanne Gordon**, an American opera singer, performing the famous aria "Habanera" from Bizet's *Carmen*. The dramatic photograph shows her in costume as Carmen, the seductive character who "bewilders her soldier lover." The advertisement emphasizes the Grafonola's innovative **"automatic stop" feature**—a technological selling point allowing the machine to play records without manual intervention and stop at the proper end. This was a notable advancement in early phonograph technology. The copy uses Carmen's sensuality as marketing appeal, promising the recording will convey "all of Gordon's witchery" and "charm" to listeners in their homes. It's essentially leveraging operatic glamour and star power to sell consumer electronics, a common early 20th-century advertising strategy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Only Non Set Automatic Stop Nothing to move or set ormeasure. Just start the Grafonola and it playsand itself. Never stops before it should. Always stops at the very end. Ex. clusively on the Columbia Grafonola. Standan! Models up t0 $300—Peviod Designs up to $2109 ~ Columbia Grafonola Gordon Sings “‘Habanera”—(Carmen) Hear this great Columbia Record now on sale of Carmen's famous “Habaner sung by the new exclusive Columbia artist —JeanneGordon,the American contralto who made such a sensation last year at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Dainty, provocative, alluring, Carmen bewilders her soldier lover. As she fas+ cinates she sings. This record played on the Columbia Grafonola will convey to you in your own home all of Gordon's witchery, all of her charm, her mocking tones, caressing cadences, notes light as air and her laughing lil. Any Columbia dealer will gladly let you play this record—No. 49838—$1.50. COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE CO., New York Canadian Factory: Toronto Exclusive Columbia Opera Artists BARRIENTOS, GARDEN GORDON HACKETT LAZARO MACBETH MARDONES, PONSELLE ROMAINE ROTHIER STRA! ARI comicbooks.com