A vaudeville skit from 1908, Pat O'Brien's Automobile by Steve Porter.
Pat O'Brien's Automobile
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| Company |
Edison's National Phonograph Company
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| Cylinder # |
9970
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| Category |
Street scene
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| Title |
Pat O'Brien's Automobile
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| Performed by |
Steve Porter
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| Circa |
October 1908
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| Announcement |
"Pat O'Brien's Automobile, by Steve Porter. Edison record."
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Steve Porter, who in earlier years established himself as a fine baritone, was by the
mid-1900's more often identified with comic songs and skits – typically, with an
Irish-ethnic slant.
He was well known for his minstrel recordings and Flanagan series of comic skits
(see the Cylinder Music Shop,
Vaudeville and Minstrelsy volume),
however here he experimented with a different character
– still Irish – who experiences some technical difficulties with a new car.
When this recording was made, most gasoline-powered automobiles on the road
utilized hand crank starting instead of powerful cranking batteries.
But the idea of a crank, which today seems odd, fit in perfectly with the 1908
mindset of what people would expect with mechanical devices such as grinders,
clocks, and musical devices such as hand-organs, and the household phonograph.
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To hear
Pat O'Brien's Automobile —
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For help playing these sounds, click here.
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To hear Steve Porter in another comic setting, see
Carrie Nation in Kansas.
To hear another 'automotive' recording, see
In My Merry Oldsmobile.
— This cylinder is from the collection of Tyrone Settlemier —
To hear other examples of wax cylinders, see the
Copyright (C) (P) 1996-2024 Glenn Sage, Portland, Oregon. All Rights Reserved.
Contacting Tinfoil.com.
