I posted this on another page, but I thought people in this group might find it interesting. Among the most unusual records in the batch of brown-wax cylinders I purchased a couple of years ago is this one. Apparently at some point in the last couple of years of the nineteenth century, or the very first of the twentieth, Cal Stewart paid a visit to the Grandon Phonograph Company store at 374 Main Street, Springfield, Massachusetts, where he made a few records. One of these records is announced as having been made especially for a Reverend George C. Fisk (or Fiske). What makes this record especially interesting is that in it Stewart speaks with a Yiddish accent! The record is called “The Christening of a Chicken,” and it is one of Stewart’s least-known routines (according to Randy McNutt’s book about Cal Stewart, he also recorded this routine on a Hawthorne & Sheble Champion cylinder, but apparently did not record it for any other company). (Also included in this batch of records was a recording by Reverend Fisk himself, which makes me think that these and several other, a few by Stewart announced as being from the Grandon Phonograph Company, came from Reverend Fisk’s own collection. I am going to try to find out more about him. There is also a Champion cylinder in this group.) I have to believe that this is a unique copy.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 20:53:52 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015