Advertisement that argues Victor Military Band will create productive future citizens

Journal advertisement

Title

Advertisement that argues Victor Military Band will create productive future citizens

Description

Here, Victrola Records markets Victor Military Band records to schools by arguing that military band music will make their Physical Education classes more appealing to students. The advertisement links the importance of physical fitness in students to the importance of physical fitness in citizens of the U.S., stating "schools are the laboratories for future citizenship." Promoting future citizens to be physically fit and thus "efficient" supports long-standing American ideals of productivity: that to be unproductive is to be immoral. This ad provides an interesting glimpse into that nascent ideal during the first World War, and demonstrates music's unique role in promoting it.

Date

1918

Source

Bruce Publishing Company,
The American School Board Journal, volumes 56-57

Type

Journal advertisement
Here, Victrola Records markets Victor Military Band records to schools by arguing that military band music will make their Physical Education classes more appealing to students. The advertisement links the importance of physical fitness in students to the importance of physical fitness in citizens of the U.S., stating "schools are the laboratories for future citizenship." Promoting future citizens to be physically fit and thus "efficient" supports long-standing American ideals of productivity: that to be unproductive is to be immoral. This ad provides an interesting glimpse into that nascent ideal during the first World War, and demonstrates music's unique role in promoting it.