Life, 1921-02-03 · page 46 of 46
Life — February 3, 1921 — page 46: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a **product advertisement** for Columbia Graphophones (early record players). The page promotes a high-end grafonola housed in a hand-carved cabinet styled after seventeenth-century Charles II Period furniture. The ad emphasizes luxury and authenticity: the cabinet replicates period craftsmanship while the phonograph reproduces recordings by famous Metropolitan Opera artists with equal "accuracy." The visual shows the ornate wooden cabinet and period-costumed figures, likely representing opera singers. Price ranges ($300–$2,100) indicate this was marketed to wealthy consumers. The contextual appeal: in the early twentieth century, phonographs were status symbols combining technological modernity with aesthetic refinement. By housing the mechanism in period-style cabinetry and associating it with grand opera artists, Columbia positioned their product as both culturally sophisticated and domestically decorative—not merely a mechanical novelty but a proper piece of furniture for the cultured home.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Grafonola in ‘Period ‘Designs This handsome, hand-carved Charles II Period Design Columbia Grafonola is a copy of a cabinet made about the middle of the seventeenth century. Thanks to the skill of the modern craftsmen who make cabinets for Columbia, not a detail has been lost. This masterpiece is reproduced with all the accuracy with which Columbia Records played on it reproduce the singing and playing of all the modern master musicians who make records for Columbia. Operated by electric current, motor starting and stopping automatical Standard Models up to $300; Period Designs up to $2100 a Charles II Design Exclusive Columbia Grand Opera Artists ‘ Columbia Grafonola BARRIENTOS LAZARO. ROMAINE GARDEN MACBETH ROTHIER GORDON MARDONES STRACCIARI HACKETT PONSELLE VAN GORDON COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY, NEW YORK Canadian Factory: Toronto comicbooks.com