CALVIN G CHILD

[Analogous]

I'm trying to unsnarl some discrepancies in the professional chronology of Calvin Child before he ended up at Victor.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thanks.

 

John

[phonogfp]

To quote from Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States by Guy A. Marco:

 

Child, Calvin G., ?-1943.  Phonograph industry executive, who operated a recording studio in 1897 as part of the Berliner structure.  He had worked earlier with the Ohio Phonograph Co. and the New England Phonograph Co.  In 1894 he was music director for Columbia, then recording director for Victor.  Although he retired in 1923, he served as a Victor board member as late as 1927.

 

Hopefully this will at least give you some direction to further explore.

 

Good luck - -

 

George P.

[Analogous]

I saw this entry, George, and Tim Gracyk describes the same pathway: 

He was at New England until 1894, then worked at Columbia till the end of 1896 when he had a brief stint at Ohio Phonograph Company.  Then he joined Fred Gaisberg at Berliner.   But then, why is Baldwin's Cadet Band making Child-announced recordings at USPhono of NJ during that period?  In an affidavit, Child said he was "superintendent" during those sessions and the cylinders were sold by Columbia. But Baldwin never appears in any Columbia Catalog,   Since Columbia bought USPNJ some years after Child  left, I'm wondering if Child took some liberties with his resume.

 

What do you think?

 

John

[phonogfp]

John, I can't think of any direct connection between the Ohio Phonograph Co. and the United States Phonograph Co. during the immediate post-North American period.  Unless Andem and Tewksbury were exchanging masters, or Child was lent out to supervise some recordings, it's a mystery to me.  Since U.S. Phono recorded cylinders for other companies, is it possible that some were made for Ohio under the supervision of Child?

 

I do suspect that Child's statement that "the cylinders were sold by Columbia" may have either been conflated by him or a subsequent reporter that these cylinders were the U.S. Phono cylinders rather than the Baldwin cylinders specifically. 

 

George P.

[Analogous]

Hi George,

Child's Ohio stint has nothing to do with my question. According to the Phonoscope, it was brief.  But he was there long enough to announce at least one Ohio cylinder I found.

 

The Columbia connection is what strikes me as odd.  Conflating the two seems odd in a court affidavit.  Then two there is the question of when Columbia bought the catalog.  1897 is the year given commonly but I have a USPNJ catalog with songs that have 1899 copyrights.

 

As I often say, "everything we know is wrong."

 

John