A Sad Case

Ouch! We acquired this record in a box of old records at an estate auction several years ago. There were too many records stacked in the box, and some were broken, which is not unusual at an auction. I just recently took a good look at it and realized that it is a very old record. The singer is Arthur Collins, who was a very early recording artist. I looked up this label and found that the company was in business from 1904 to 1908. Arthur Collins discography shows that he recorded this song in 1903 and 1904, recording it first for Edison. The record is one-sided, but has some very intersting features. The label is recessed, and the record has a ridge before and after the groove to protect it when stacked with other records. The picture on the label is very unusual for a record of this age, and it reminds me of the Robert Service story, ' The Gramophone at Fond-Du-Lac'.

This is a 'mild' example of minstrel show comedy songs, most of which are too free with racial slurs to post or to play for entertainment. If you want to hear more of Arthur Collins, many of his songs are posted as mp3 files on Archive.org. This is what entertained folks 100-plus years ago; I think about that when I listen to the comedians of today. They think they are above this type of humor, but they still make fun of the groups of people that are safe to pick on, just like the comedy acts of long ago.

Anyway, here is what is left of this record.