Mystery Object # 3 Answer

Full points to Rob, Andy and Russell who deftly identified last weeks Mystery Object of the Week as an early Tin Foil Phonograph. Object: Modified Tin Foil Phonograph Maker Archibald H.Irvine, 1877 This is a rare hand-driven modified Edison tin foil phonograph on a heavy mahogany base with mahogany trunnions and speaker/reproducer mounts (one withContinue reading “Mystery Object # 3 Answer”

Florrie Forde’s lost Blue Plaque

By Roger Neil In 2006 I proposed to English Heritage that they put up one of their Blue Plaques in London to the music hall legend, Florrie Forde. They were enthused and started the apparently long and arduous task of researching her life and work and homes. Florrie was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1876Continue reading “Florrie Forde’s lost Blue Plaque”

Revealed: the secrets of Captain Scott’s playlist

New album is compiled from gramophone recordings explorer took on ill-fated journey to the Antarctic This article was written by Adam Sherwin published by The Independant,  Thursday 10 May 2012  Huddled together inside their hut while blizzards raged outside, Captain Scott and his men found solace in the gramophone records of comical music hall hits, operettas and stirring anthemsContinue reading “Revealed: the secrets of Captain Scott’s playlist”

Photographs from long ago: #1 Paderewski.

We have been given access to a number of vintage photo’s from the EMI Archive Trust which we’ll run as a series. This is Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Quite a picture, quite a man…. Paderewski had a run of the mill career…..Born into a poor Polish family, he became a world famous pianist, married a Baroness,Continue reading “Photographs from long ago: #1 Paderewski.”