Columbia Portland Lewis and Clark Exposition “Napkin Ring” Cylinder Record 1905

[melvind]

Columbia “Napkin Ring” Cylinder Record 1905

A souvenir from the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition which ran from June 1st to October 15, 1905 in Portland, Oregon.

 

A friend recently had the sound from his 1905 Columbia Napkin Ring Cylinder Record digitally transferred. The cylinder is from the Portland Lewis and Clark Exposition. This record is the clearest recording of a so called “Napkin Ring” record I have ever heard.

 

Gladys, the narrator, put together a very clever and humorous dialog between her and her friend Ida all about meeting to attend the Fair. I did my best to caption the dialog. If anyone hears mistakes with my hearing of the words please let me know. I think it is pretty accurate.

 

Here is a 1905 picture of the intersection of 3rd and Washington St. in downtown Portland where Gladys and Ida decided to meet. From there they would have taken a trolly to the Fair.

 

Here are some views of the Exposition from 1905

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by melvind

[phonogfp]

Very nice presentation, Dan!

 

I'm especially curious about why Gladys chose to end the recording with "Compliments of the Columbia Phonograph Company."  Why would an Exposition attendee include that?  It suggests to me that perhaps - just perhaps - this record was prerecorded by the Columbia personnel and given away as a finished product.  The prepared script, humor, excellent recording, theatrical intonation, and timing all suggest a professionally-made recording, and the attribution to Columbia would naturally be included as an advertisement.

 

Thanks form posting this, Dan!

 

George P.

[melvind]

George, 

 

Thanks for the nice comments. I had some of the same thoughts. If it is a amateur recording it was very well thought out. It could be a Columbia person doing the recording I guess. I doubt we will ever know but the cylinder sure is a fun one.

 

I have another Napkin Ring cylinder that is nearly impossible to hear, but it starts with an announcement that it was being recorded on a Columbia Grand Phonograph. So, perhaps Columbia asked everyone to include something about the company.

Edited March 14, 2023 by melvind

[RodPickett]

This is fantastic.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

I have three of these napkin rings:

1899 St. Louis Exposition Napkin Ring Souvenir – If I remember, too moldy

1905 Louis & Clark Centennial Exposition Napkin Ring Souvenir – Correct box & lid, but a nice piano solo recorded over

1907 Jamestown Exposition Napkin Ring Souvenir – Box and lid only, sadly, no cylinder

[melvind]

Thanks, Rod! I knew about the Portland and St. Louis records, but I hadn't realized there was also a Jamestown version from a few years later. Great history!

Edited March 14, 2023 by melvind

[melvind]

I was just doing some googling around for more information on napkin ring cylinders and I came upon a couple on Tinfoil.com (Glen Sage's site). There are two examples the first from 1905 Portland and the second 1904 St. Louis.

 

The most interesting thing though is that Gladys (with Donna not Ida this time) also appears on the Portland cylinder here as well. It is isn't well rehearsed just sort of made up as it goes. Right at the end a guy puts in the plug for Columbia Phonograph Company.

 

George, I think your thoughts on how the cylinders were made is likely correct. On the one I posted it seems that Gladys does the ad for Columbia where on this other one the booth operator from Columbia does the announcement.

 

http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-0505.htm

 

 

[phonogfp]

Rene did a nice article on these napkin ring cylinders some years back in the APS magazine.

 

I think with Gladys' appearance on a SECOND Portland cylinder, we may have a good case for these two having been prerecorded and given out as advertisements.  Fascinating - - my understanding was that these were offered as blanks in the catalog, and also recorded upon at the expositions as souvenirs.  I never read about these being used as a medium for advertisements.

 

George P.

[melvind]

The one on Tinfoil.com is definitely an amateur unrehearsed recording  except for the announcement right at the end.

[phonogfp]

Wow - I wonder if Gladys (Columbia employee) assisted attendees with their recordings and jumped in at the end with a plug?

 

I'm tempted to check The Columbia Record to see if any names are mentioned in regard to the employees staffing the pavilion.

 

George P.

[Fran604g]

Just curious if anyone has/would do reproductions of these interesting cylinder records for our 2 minute machines?

[melvind]

51 minutes ago, Fran604g said:

Just curious if anyone has/would do reproductions of these interesting cylinder records for our 2 minute machines?

In June of 2004, 100 years after the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, Paul Morris brought a number of new Napkin Ring cylinder blanks to the Union phonograph show just outside of Chicago. They were in boxes that resembled the original Columbia boxes from the St. Louis and Portland Expositions in 1904 and 1905. He was setup to record a message and we could take them home.

 

For this recording I was the announcer and Stacey Murdock sang a portion of Papageno's aria "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). It sounds pretty good and I cherish the memory it provides.

 

 

[Fran604g]

Thanks, Dan.

[melvind]

The following image is from the August 2004 In The Groove (MAPS Journal before APS combined efforts with MAPS) that shows Paul Morris making one of the Napkin Ring cylinder records at the Union Phonograph Show. This is how Stacey and I made the cylinder shown above.

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by melvind

[phonogfp]

I checked The Columbia Record for any mention of the attendants at the Columbia pavilion, but there was nothing beyond the two men in overall charge  of the display.

 

George P.