Life, 1928-02-23 · page 27 of 35
Life — February 23, 1928 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**, but rather a straightforward **product advertisement** for Thomas A. Edison's phonograph called "The Edisonic." The large close-up photograph of a man's face singing is a marketing image designed to illustrate the advertiser's central claim: that the Edisonic's "close-up" technology allows listeners to hear music with unprecedented clarity and intimacy, as if the performer were singing directly to them in the room. The ad emphasizes technical superiority—distinguishing individual vocal and instrumental tones with "startling nearness"—and positions the device as an advancement in "Re-Created music" for home enjoyment. The Schubert model pictured cost $135. The "Tonoscope Demonstration" mentioned is a free promotional tool readers could request from Edison's company in Orange, New Jersey. This represents early-20th-century consumer advertising emphasizing technological innovation and sensory experience.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
It’s “Close-up” Music! + + He’s singing right to you! + + Winrever you } 4 en. : Silvery tenor notes, like in music — vocal a= 4 te sparkling soprano, or instrumental — can f \ rhythmic bass, purest be heard at its best > ‘ piano tones — hear on the new Edisonic! ( 4 2 \ S j them on the new “Close-up” music is Pe q ; ‘ Edisonic! + You will Thomas A. Edison’s \ , ie be fascinated by the newest gift to music lovers ‘ - o ; “close-up” illusion, at the + it reveals a beauty, j 3 clear relief of each voice— an all-pervading illusion ' ‘ each orchestral instrument. of startling nearness that +} «+ = No wonder musicians and surpasses in naturalness anything E ’ critics acclaim the Edisonic a marked you have ever heard before on a advance in Re-Created music! -* + phonograph. +$ + It is music which floods the Enjoy it in your own home, ready at any time to room + music which is play you the music best suited to your mood. +} “CLOSE-UP”! + music that Send for the remarkable Tonoscope Demonstration, surrounds you like sunlight. free! Thomas A. Edison, Inc., Orange, New Jersey. The Schubert Edisonic — $135 An amazingly modest price for an instrument of such power, en- cased in a Cabinet of decorative excellence. The finish is two-tone English brown mahogany. Anta The EDISONIC comicbooks.com