One-of-a-kind souvenir records: one from the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition
and one from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
World's fair souvenir records
Bird's Eye View of the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition.
[Officially, it was called "The Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair"!]
Image courtesy of Expositions Nationales
The Columbia Phonograph Company ran booths at both the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and
the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon.
They made available tiny souvenir cylinder records, recorded on the spot.
These records – also known as napkin ring cylinders –
were the same diameter as standard two-minute wax records, but were a stubby 1.5" tall.
The records came packaged in an equally tiny, but handsome custom carton.
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| Company |
Columbia Phonograph Company
|
| Cylinder # |
None
|
| Category |
Talking
|
| Title |
Souvenir record from the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition
|
| Performed by |
Donna & Gladys of Albina (in Portland)
|
| Circa |
August? 31, 1905
|
| Announcement |
"I'm just talking to hear myself talk . . ."
|
|
|
The recordings, of course, are one-of-a-kind and quite short –
typically just over 40 seconds.
|
To hear a
souvenir record from the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition —
|
|
For help playing these sounds, click here.
|
|
To hear the official
Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition March —
|
|
From a 1905 Columbia disc record.
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| |
| Company |
Columbia Phonograph Company
|
| Cylinder # |
None
|
| Category |
Talking
|
| Title |
Souvenir record from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
|
| Performed by |
Unknown Columbia booth operator
|
| Circa |
October 1, 1904
|
| Announcement |
"Souvenir record made at the booth of the Columbia Phonograph Company,
October 1st, Nineteen-hundred and four, at the St. Louis World's Fair"
|
|
|
A (short) comedy piece – probably recorded as a demonstration by the Columbia booth
operator in St. Louis.
|
To hear a
souvenir record from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair —
|
|
For help playing these sounds, click here.
|
— This cylinder is from the collection of Tyrone Settlemier —
To learn more, see:
To hear other examples of wax cylinders, see the
Copyright (C) (P) 1996-2024 Glenn Sage, Portland, Oregon. All Rights Reserved.
Contacting Tinfoil.com.
