The Burlesquers
With Tease-O-Rama starting today in San Francisco, I thought I’d post some of my favorite images from the Theatrical Poster Collection at the Library of Congress.
James Coburn
While sorting through a lot of slides and film I bought a while ago, I see a familiar slump through my viewer. I can’t be positive about the ID, so I immediately slapped it on the scanner and blow it up. Sure enough, it’s James Coburn.
The date on the slide is “Aug 58″ so after checking his IMDB page, I’m guessing that this photo is from the set of “Ride Lonesome”. That would be his first feature film. It’s either that, or it’s from the 47th episode of “Wagon Train” titled “The Millie Davis Story”.
Enhance!
Pre-Owned Prizes #1
We go to estate sales and flea markets all the time, looking for whatever strikes our fancy. I thought I’d start a little show-and-tell here with items that have been (or are in) our collection.
This is an old stacking cup and bowl set for children. It’s painted porcelain and there are no markings on it except for “Japan” on the bottom. I love the happy face and general design of it. I wish I new more information about this piece.
The NPS releases historic wax cylinder audio
I love old audio recordings. My 78rpm record collection and love of home-recorded albums speak to that, so this thrills me to no end.
Wooden box used by Wangemann to carry the 1889-90 wax cylinders. Photo credit: National Park Service.
A few months back I had read about the recent discovery of Theo Wangemann’s recordings in a cabinet at Thomas Edison’s laboratory.
Theo Wangemann was hired by Edison in 1888 to figure out how to market the new wax cylinder phonograph.
From the New York Times article about the discovery: “In June 1889, Edison sent Wangemann to Europe, initially to ensure that the phonograph at the Paris World’s Fair remained in working order. After Paris, Wangemann toured his native Germany, recording musical artists and often visiting the homes of prominent members of society who were fascinated with the talking machine.”
Now the National Park Service has released all the digitized recordings.
Read more, and listen to the recordings at the National Park Service website
This Amazing America
Today’s scan is a 1938 brochure promoting “Strange and Unusual” places you could visit via Greyhound Bus Lines. There are 140 locations overall and as an extra bonus we get a profile shot of the beautiful streamlined Greyhound Super-Coach. I’m a sucker for old buses, and this one’s a beauty.
Discovered Mural
In Alameda, CA an old Mug Root Beer advertising mural was uncovered when siding was removed during a facade update.
When you look at it up close you can see that there are many layers of murals on this wall, and below the plaster on the original sideboards is still another mural, visible because of an old pipe installation that cut through the plaster. The future of this mural is unknown to me.
If you are in the area and want to see it for yourself, the Mural is located at the intersection of Webster and Haight.
1960′s China Souvenir Slides
Today’s post is 20 souvenir slides of China from the 1960′s. These are those pre-packaged professional photos for tourists that are sold in gift shops at attractions and airports. The package and slides are undated, but in the rickshaw photo you see the top of a Volkswagen Splitscreen bus which stop being produced in 1967.
Transcribing Around The Neighborhood
This is a 10 minute field interview by Frank Reynolds for the Modesto, California radio station KTRB and aired on May 14th, 1954.
Frank is interviewing Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Horst the day before they opened Cliff’s Bakery and Delicatessen at 23 McHenry Ave in Modesto.
This Electrical Transcription (ET) is a large 12″ acetate that was unfortunately stored in a plastic bag, which drew oils out of the record and soaked into the label (as seen in the scan).
If anyone has more information about Mr. Reynolds, or Mr. and Mrs. Horst, I’d love to hear from you and I’ll update this post.
For more information about KTRB, check out the Modesto Radio Museum.
Dear Mr. Smith
Today’s audio offering is an odd one. This 45 record from Dictation Disc is a practice disc for increasing your shorthand speed. The record is undated, but from the tone of the voice work feels very mid-century to me.
A man in his best 1950′s voice dictates various fictitious business letters in increasing speeds. For example, the second track has our man thanking Mr Smith for his order of butter and asks for feedback about their packaging, but in… very… stilted… 50… words per minute.
These tracks are ripe for sampling. If you are inspired, please feel free to take these and make magic. All I ask in return is that you send me a copy and I’ll group them into a future post.
Irv Carroll and his Orchestra
There is a shocking lack of information online about Irv Carroll and his humorous songs.
One of the few mentions was from the 3/14/1942 issue of The Billboard that stated that he just released his first single (Let’s All Snore) on his new Bluebird contract.
These two songs are from Bluebird 78rpm record #B-11346. My favorite is There Ain’t Any Chorus.
Continue reading "Irv Carroll and his Orchestra"
