The
Stage of the World

"The
best seat in the house. Forever."
The revolution of sound that
began with the Phonograph was a social, cultural, and literal
(in rpms) revolution. And it never stopped. We still have record
players and descendent technologies that record and reproduce
sound and deliver entertainment to the home and individuals.
Advertising promises have been
made by each sound delivering technology that has followed the
original phonograph -- the radio, television, high-fidelity,
stereophonic, 45 and LP phonograph systems, VHS and Beta video
tape systems, reel-to-reel, 8-track and cassette playing systems,
laser discs, CEDs, CDs, DVD and Blu-ray systems, computers,
iPods and all of the many streaming devices. Formats and media
change but each new product still pursues the phonograph's primary
advertising promise -- that their device will deliver music
and entertainment to you as if it's just for you, and it will
be an experience equal to or better than the "best seat
in the house." Anytime. Forever.
It's also true that there are
still qualities of a live performance that cannot be experienced
in the home.
But if you are able to hear
a performance that you would otherwise never experience, and
if the "music is magic" as you close your eyes and
listen, it seems pretty compelling that the 'best seat in the
house" can be yours.
Taking your seat simply requires
the what, when, and how often you want to 'attend' the performance.
The following are examples
of how realism and "The Stage of the World" have been
promised by phonograph and descendent technology advertisements
since the beginning of the twentieth century and as a continuum
into the twenty-first.

"It is reality,
nothing less; for "The Stage of the World" presents
the artists themselves to you..." Columbia
Grafonola, 1916

""The whole
enchanted realm of grand opera...comes to life through
the magic portals of the Columbia Grafonola," 1917

"Ring Up the Graphophone
Curtain in Your Home, and the Whole World of Entertainment
Appears!" 1906

Munsey's, Victor
Talking Machine Co., 1906

Victor The Fireside
Theatre brings to each family exactly the music that
it wants; the veritable voice, the actual performance.
And all in the comfort and privacy of home.

"At the Christmas
Matinee" - The Best Seat in the House - Collier's,
December 1908

"At the Christmas
Matinee" by J.J. Gould, The Saturday Evening Post,
November 28, 1908

"A home without
a Victor is a stage without a play." 1908

The Edison Phonograph
"sings as sweetly sings as the most cultivated singer
and renders perfectly the tones of the various instruments
of orchestras and bands." The
Edison Phonograph Monthly, August 1908

"Home is more
comfortable than an opera house...“… whenever you want,
without going a single step away from home.” 1910

The Edison Phonograph
is the theatre... "The voice of all the people
on the stage - The choice of all the people off the stage.
Edison ad, artwork by Gil Spear
1911

"It brings
the talent of the world's greatest artists into the home..."
The Edison Phonograph
Monthly, January 1912

"This beats putting
on your dress suit and paying $5.00 to sit in a camp chair
in a crowded theatre." February 1914, The Talking
Machine World

"Hearing is Believing"
Columbia Phonograph Company, 1911

"Just as real,
just as enjoyable, in your own home" 1912

An Edison Phonograph - "A
Minstrel Show in Your Own Home with no end of good, clean, bright
music and songs." St. Nicholas magazine, 1911 *Disclaimer

"right in your own home
the charming selections from the popular operettas now delighting
the public..." St. Nicholas, 1913
 
Any class of amusement "From
the sublime to the ridiculous" -- Columbia Graphophone Company,
1915

Columbia Records on
the Columbia Grafonola bring the best music of all lands
and all ages into the friendly intimacy of your own home."
Ladies' Home Journal 1918

"A Magical Voice
of Music," Columbia Grafonola, 1919

Yours is the privilege
of hearing this group of marvelously gifts artists "from
the depths of your pet arm chair, any evening you
choose. March 1919, The National Geographic

The Saturday Evening
Post, March 13, 1920

An all-star bill appearing
each night at home, Columbia 1920 Disclaimer

"With the Victrola
you can have a concert by these same great bands in your
home..." 1921

"Grand Opera",
Tusca Radio, 1923

RCA Radiola - Full
orchestra on a lanterned lawn - 1926

"Lights out...a glow springs
up along the stage's rim...The curtains part..." Victor Red
Seal Records, 1927

"Almost, you look
into the faces of the musicians themselves, so perfect
is the illusion..." 1928 - Edmund Wilson artist

"Without stretch
of the imagination, they are right in the very room with
you." 1928 - Edmund Wilson artist

"You're at a Broadway
vaudeville show---in your own home!" 1928 - Edmund
Wilson artist

"the utmost possible
fidelity and realism..." .RCA Radiola, December 1929

The Variety of Radio
Entertainment available for your home - "Get your
full share..." RCA Radiola, 1931

"Waiting for your
Cue", RCA 1944

Magnavox - Radio-Phonograph
1945 "true-to-life tone"
"Close your eyes
and enjoy the illusion that singers and orchestra are
in the very room with you."

New Worlds of listening
pleasure for you, RCA 1947

Du Mont, with Television,
the world is your stage, 1949

1946

1948 Spartan Radio
- "It brought the entire world to their fingertips"

1949 - The magic of radio and
television bring America's Grandest Entertainment. "Enjoy
FM and AM radio--and records--in natural color tone."

1950 Zenith - Watching ballet
in the afternoon "with startling new life-like clarity and
detail..."

"Command the world's most
celebrated stars to perform for you, privately, in your
own home." GE Television, The Saturday Evening Post,
September 15, 1951

Webcor, Life, September
20, 1954

1954 Sylvania Television
- "Chairside Theatre"

Best Seat in the
Concert Hall - Right in Your Home! 1956 Admiral

Carnegie Hall - Magavox
Stereophonic High-Fidelity -- "recorded music suddenly
comes alive...creating an exciting illusion of "living
presence...with amazing realism." 1958

Columbia Stereophonic Phonographs
PUT YOU IN THE CENTER OF SOUND, 1958

Magavox Stereo Theatre in your
home, 1962

"Fifth-Row-Center-Sound"
"Full, live sound..."
Wollensak Stereo Tape Recorder 1963

Entertainment Center
for Children, General Electric's Show'
N Tell, 1965

RCA Victor Stereo - realism
that rivals the concert hall, Time, 1967

"RCA Victor Stereo...realism
that rivals the concert hall," 1965

"RCA Victor Stereo...realism
that rivals the concert hall," 1965

"RCA Victor Stereo...realism
that rivals the concert hall," 1966

"RCA - realism that rivals
the concert hall" 1967

RCA Stereo- Realism that Rivals
the Concert Hall, 1968

Realism that rivals the concert
hall - closer to the music, RCA 1968

Watch
Whatever, Whenever. - Sony Betamax 1978

"Unparalleled in sight
and sound," Magnavox 1979

1984 Stereo Broadcasts of San
Francisco Opera -- "The effect is amazingly realistic."

1984 Sony Compact Disc - Sony's
"Revolution"
Since the invention of the
phonograph player back in 1877...the basic concept hasn't changed
a bit. Until now."

JBL speakers "Set the
Stage at Home"- The speakers relied on by recording engineers
to mix the music for the first time are available for your living
room.
"Bringing Pro Sound All
The Way Home. JBL - 1986

1992 RCA Home Theatre - "So
lifelike...you'll feel like part of the show."

"...hear something
you've never heard before: perfection." "you listen
to your favorite artists as though you, and your armchair,
were centered in the spotlight above." Courtesy Sony
1983

Dell, Presidents Day Sale,
February 2017

In September 2020 with COVID-19
a continuing reality, The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra's New
Season announced their "seven beautifully crafted concerts
will come to you at home."
"With fascinating camera
angles, bonus interviews and insights, and behind the scenes footage,
your own home will be the best seat in the house!

Turn your couch
into a box seat at the ballet
Dim the lights and nestle into
your sofa like it’s a box at the Palais
Garnier to watch ballet and opera clips on the Opéra
National de Paris’ YouTube channel. When you need an
intermission, do as the audiences do and get a glass of Champagne.
By Stephanie
Rosenbloom, November 17, 2020 New York Times

Opéra national de Paris

Palais
Garnier - Photo NYT and ©Jean-Pierre
Delagarde/OnP
The
Phonograph
A
revolution of sound that created
the"The best seat in the house. Forever"©

Friends of the Phonograph by Doug Boilesen and Phonographia
©
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