Artists Inside the Horn

 

One of the early advertising images to depict the relationship between artists and recorded sound was to have the artists inside horns or emerging from the horn as if the sounds being heard were actually performers coming out of the horn.

In later cabinet model machines the artists would come out of the doors of the phonograph which controlled the volume, and often onto a stage.

Artists could also stand and perform on records or float above the machine as visions of a performance or the spirit of music.

The following are advertising examples of artists inside the horn or emerging from horns and cabinets.

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Scribner's Magazine, 1906 (PM-0929)

 

Columbia with a Mellow Tone, Everybody's Magazine, 1905 (PM-1015)

 

Edison Poster Form 318, c. 1901 (PM-1344)

 

Munsey's Magazine, 1907 (PM-0985)

 

Colliers, November 7, 1908

 

Farrar and Schumann-Heink, Harper's Magazine, 1908

 

Cosmopolitan, 1909 (PM-0992)

 

"All of this charming music gently floats from the Victor and Victor-Victrola, just as clear and natural as it comes from the lips of the sings and the instruments of the musicians." The Saturday Evening Post, 1911 (PM-2036)

 

Columbia Grafonola, 1916 (PM-0879)

 

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"The world's greatest bands parade before you on the Victrola." McClure's, 1916 (PM-2031)

 

"The world's greatest music makers" come to your hearthside. The Talking Machine World, December 15, 1921

 

 

Miniature performers were another variation of artists coming out of horns and machines. This 1921 Victrola ad featured miniature artists who seemingly lived in the machine or at minimum would appear when a record was to be played.

Victrola Christmas ad, December 1921, The Delineator (PM-2029)

 

Small performers, apparently hidden inside the phonograph, was how the Edison Phonograph ads "The Acme of Realism" and "Looking for the Band" portrayed the source of music, even if no miniature performers were actually shown.

The 1901 ad of the little boy ready to chop open the phonograph to find the source of the band was simply another way of promoting a recurring advertising theme that recorded sounds were the same as actual artists performing for you and indistinguishable from living voices and live performances of music.

 

Edison Form 410, 1901 (PM-0262)

 

"For joyous, sparkling, up-to-the minute music -- Columbia Records on the Columbia Grafonola," 1918 (PM-1949)

 

Let us entertain you! Columbia Grafonola, 1919

 

The superb records of Columbia artists place at your instant command the unrivaled charm of good music." The Ladies' Home Journal, 1919

 

Radio ads later displayed this same phenomenon of the band emerging from the radio's horn (in this case the source of music is from a phonograph record).

Never such REALISTIC Volume of Sound from a Phonograph before! The Talking Machine World, July 1922

 

Music Master, The Talking Machine World, December 15,1922

 

Atlas Loud Speaker Natural Reproduction. "A Record!," 1924

"There is no difference between the Atlas Re-Production and the actual music in the broadcasting studio."

"Open Sesame," Thorola Loud Speaker, The Talking Machine World, March 15, 1925

 

The Saturday Evening Post, September 1946

A variation of artists emerging from horns and phonographs to perform is this Decca Records ad where children enter the albums to hear artists, music and stories.

 

Webcor Music Man stereo phonograph and stereo tape recorder, 1962

 

 

 

 

Phonographia