By Carey Fleiner For a man who is not well-remembered outside of specialist circles, Eldridge Johnson has left behind a lot of physical material and resources. For example, if you’d like to read Johnson’s personal papers, you can visit the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Johnson’s son donated 48 boxes of personal andContinue reading ““Magic”Johnson’s Aladdin caves: where to find out more about the great music inventor”
Tag Archives: victor talking machine company
Trouble in St Louis. How the Victor Company got its name.
This is the third in a series of articles about the great Eldridge Johnson and his Victor companies. By Carey Fleiner Ever tried to think up a name for a fledgeling company? It’s more difficult than you think. You can go literal BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) or abstract such as Google or Yahoo. Why didContinue reading “Trouble in St Louis. How the Victor Company got its name.”
Ladies get the horn with nasty big gramophones & consign them to the closet! Victrola explained
By Carey Fleiner The majority of record buyers at the turn of the twentieth century were women, and the record player, while an interesting, new technology, was also an invader into the tasteful sanctuary, that was, their home. Men’s literature, such as Scientific American or The Gramophone, touted the tech specs of talking machines –Continue reading “Ladies get the horn with nasty big gramophones & consign them to the closet! Victrola explained”
Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson
By Carey Fleiner Quick – show of hands – tell me everything you know about Eldridge R. Johnson….well, if you’re poking around this website, you probably have heard of him, but many people have not. If you’re one of the ‘nots’ — perhaps you’ve heard of his company The Victor Talking Machine Company which heContinue reading “Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson”
The Four Major record companies in the UK (in 1924). #1
We’ve stumbled across a wonderful book called “The Talking Machine Industry” written by Ogilvie Mitchell in 1924. It is a bit of a hack job to be frank. Mr Mitchell’s style is frothy and he gallops across a range of subjects to do with the history of recorded music at that point (i.e. less thanContinue reading “The Four Major record companies in the UK (in 1924). #1”
Setting up a new record company #7 Sell your product!
This week we aimed to tell the story of how Emile Berliner and Fred Gaisberg set up their record company in America in the late 19th Century. Seven blog entries on seven days. This is day #7. The final day; we made it! Its 1896. The new Philadelphian investors have decided that the United StatesContinue reading “Setting up a new record company #7 Sell your product!”
Setting up a record company #5: Perfecting the gramophone
This week we plan to tell the story of how Emile Berliner and Fred Gaisberg set up their record company in America. Seven blog entries on seven days. This is day #5. Its 1895. Whilst Berliner is perfecting the shellac disc and Fred Gaisberg is on the road raising money for the new gramophone business,Continue reading “Setting up a record company #5: Perfecting the gramophone”
Publicity photos of the early recording stars #1 Gluck & Homer
Musicians at the start of the twentieth century weren’t just having to learn how to deal with the new recording technologies, they were also called upon to help publicise their discs. They appear to have taken to the PR side of things with varying degrees of enthusiasm and success. This is the first of aContinue reading “Publicity photos of the early recording stars #1 Gluck & Homer”
Sound Of The Hound 