Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

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TinfoilPhono
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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by TinfoilPhono »

phonogfp wrote:I should point out that the "editorial" in The Antique Phonograph was no such thing, but rather a Letter to the Editor.
Thanks for pointing that out, George. As the editor of The Antique Phonograph for nearly 15 years, I have never published an editorial comment. I am very happy to publish contributors' articles, and to publish letters to the editor when they (very, very rarely) come in. I felt that this one was well worth sharing.

Like everyone else, I have a lot of records that are virulently racist by today's standards. It is undeniably true that racism was institutionalized and widely accepted back in the day. Not just the "coon" songs that were so common, but also caricatures of Irish, Jewish, Italian, and other races and/or nationalities. I completely agree that it is vitally important that we do not pretend none of these existed. It is a part of our history and that should -- MUST -- be acknowledged. That said, I would never play any of these records for guests without presenting some context. I do share such records with non-collectors. Perhaps not often, but when someone expresses serious interest in my hobby I do sometimes expand my little lectures. Whenever I do play them, I make a point of establishing context. In that sense, it's no different than when I play my modest collection of WWI records and point out the difference in attitude about songs like "America, Here's My Boy" and "I Didn't Raise my Boy to be a Soldier." It is all context. As long as we acknowledge that, there's zero reason not to present that ugly history.

What John Levin was pointing out in his letter to the editor was simply that context was not presented during the APS event. It's really that simple. As he says in his followup email, the presentation was all about the technical aspects of the film, not the content. Even a short comment to acknowledge the very different attitudes common in that era would have entirely defused the situation.

It's not in any way an attempt to "whitewash" the past or pretend it didn't happen. It has absolutely nothing to do with 'political correctness.' Far from it. But we have to understand that without context, such songs and films are easily seen as offensive to many people -- and with good reason.

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by outune »

As usual, I'm late to the party-- I'm just reading through this and really had no idea what anyone was talking about. I haven't read the APS letter, I didn't attend the lecture, I haven't viewed Plantation Act-- So if I'm interpreting the "issue" wrong, I apologize.
I did see Al Jolson's name mentioned and historical context and racism and..... As has been mentioned, it's easy to look at the past through the lenses of our current societal sensitivities and be aghast at the treatment of various groups. I suspect that a few decades from now, society will look back at our current society and find many more things to complain about than we ourselves can see.

Just to add to the opportunity to exercise our brains, I thought I'd post a link to an article on Jolson that I ran across a while ago. Early in my collecting (some 40 years ago) I found myself really enjoying Jolson's music. I have about 140 original records, lots of his sheet music, an autographed Little Wonder #20 and many more bits of Jolson memorabilia.
So-- no editorial comments by me.. No defense, nor condemnation of the artists in our past. Here's the article link, just to add to the discussion

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php ... o-villian/

Thanks-
Brad Abell

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by gramophone78 »

Seems Mr. Jolson was involved (indirectly) in another controversy in 1977 when USPS issued this poster commemorating the 50 anniversary of talking pictures. After receiving several complaints, USPS ordered them taken down and destroyed!!. There was even an article written in APM (Vol VI No.10) regarding these and the controversy.

Today, only a few examples survive.
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (1).JPG
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (2).jpg
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Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (3).jpg
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (3).jpg (123.19 KiB) Viewed 1403 times
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (6).jpg
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (6).jpg (76.01 KiB) Viewed 1403 times
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (7).jpg
Al Jolson USPS Poster 1977 (7).jpg (95.61 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

outune
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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by outune »

Yes-- The Jolson poster that the USPS put out was indeed ordered "Seize and Destroy" shortly after it was introduced. I had obtained a copy in the 70's and sold it to a collector just a couple years ago-- They are rare because history was ordered destroyed.

Brad Abell

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by marcapra »

Wow, this post started out as a notice about the slow post office delivery of the APS newsletter and really morphed into something else! I was there and saw the Al Jolson movie, but wasn't shocked or offended. I'm old enough to know that blackface was a common tradition of minstrelsy and it's Al Jolson in the 20s. Not something to be shocked about. If a live entertainer was hired and came out in blackface, that would be a little different. Although since some were shocked, maybe a disclaimer would be good, if this kind of video is shown again. I've seen auctions where KKK records are auctioned off with no disclaimer or apology. That kind of shocks me more as I don't think Al Jolson was racist.

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by barnettrp21122 »

Still waiting for my copy to arrive so I can see what all you people are talking about!! :(
Bob
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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by phonogfp »

Bob,

A replacement copy of the March 2018 issue is on its way to you! :)

George P.

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by barnettrp21122 »

phonogfp wrote:Bob,

A replacement copy of the March 2018 issue is on its way to you! :)

George P.
A late thank-you to you and Rod Pickett, for sending another copy.
Mine arrived today, April 6th!
I'll pass it on to a prospective collector! Thanks again!
Bob
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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by TinfoilPhono »

:shock: Over six weeks in the mail. I'm not sure what the solution is, but we will be working with our printer/mailer to try to get things back to normal after this very frustrating experience!

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Re: Note to All Antique Phonograph Society Members

Post by gramophone-georg »

TinfoilPhono wrote::shock: Over six weeks in the mail. I'm not sure what the solution is, but we will be working with our printer/mailer to try to get things back to normal after this very frustrating experience!
It's the USPS, I think. Up until this week every package coming and going seemed to keep getting delayed from about 1. Feb on. I had Media packages take 3 weeks, Priority take ten days, and Parcel up to three weeks also, which is pretty bad.

Yet I bought items from Argentina, the UK, Australia, and Germany that got here in days at very reasonable cost. :roll:
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