1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Record

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melvind
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1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Record

Post by melvind »

I have had a raw WAV file recording of this napkin ring cylinder record for a few years but couldn't do anything with it until now. It is a very noisy and soft spoken recording. There seem to be two sections on the cylinder but this is only the first part. The second part is just noise. You can tell there is a voice there once in awhile, but nothing is clear. I processed the first section the best I could and included it in the 22 second YouTube video below. I love having something like this from my home state. A good historical record of the time even in its sad shape.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcJD_PGFrX0[/youtubehd]
If anyone has software they think could do a better job I would be happy to share the original WAV file and then repost it later.
napkin ring 1.jpg
napkin ring 2.jpg
napkin ring 3.jpg
napkin ring 4.jpg

Phonofreak
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by Phonofreak »

To the best of my knowledge, these records were premiums at the Columbia booth. I believe these were sample recordings that members of the public recorded their voice on a free souvenir from the exposition. That would explain the noise and hash. This is a fine slice of life of an individual at the exposition. Just my take on this.
Harvey Kravitz

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Steve Levi
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by Steve Levi »

What a great artifact from the exposition. Even better that it is phonographic. Thanks for sharing! Steve Levi

melvind
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by melvind »

Harvey I am sure you are correct. Individuals could record a message to take home. I have seen a few other boxes that had names filled in. This one didn't but I sure wish it did. Most of these cylinders I have seen are cracked. I feel glad to have a good condition cylinder with even a bit of the voice captured and hope to someday maybe get a bit more of it cleared up.

melvind
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by melvind »

A fun related video has the voice of my good friend Stacey Murdock singing on a Paul Morris 2004 Napkin Ring Record. That year being the 100th anniversary of the 1904 St. Louis and 1905 Portland Expositions, Paul brought a number of Napkin Ring cylinders to the Union Phonograph Show in boxes that very much resembled the original Columbia boxes. He was setup to let folks record and then take the records home. Just a bit of fun and a great souvenir of that Union Phonograph show.

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

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf_PCEohP2E[/youtubehd]
20171031_194608.jpg

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WDC
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by WDC »

Great recordings and the modern one is pretty good! I happen to have that song on an Edison 2-minute by Franz Porten, recorded ca. 1901/02:

https://archive.org/details/edgm-12236

Jerry B.
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by Jerry B. »

For this recording I was the announcer and Stacey sang a portion of Papageno's aria "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from Mozart's The Magic Flute. It sounds pretty good and I cherish the memory it provides.
Thanks for the recordings. Wasn't that the year that Stacey sang the National Anthem to get the show started?

Jerry Blais

Phonofreak
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by Phonofreak »

Dan, Be happy with what you have. The fact that you have an intact cylinder with an audible recording make this rare indeed. You have a rare artifact of someone's life in 1905. If there is some one out there who can clean up the hash on a modern recording, I would research it. You have something extremely rare, and after you get it recorded, put it away in a safe place. You are very fortunate and lucky to find something this rare.
Harvey Kravitz
melvind wrote:Harvey I am sure you are correct. Individuals could record a message to take home. I have seen a few other boxes that had names filled in. This one didn't but I sure wish it did. Most of these cylinders I have seen are cracked. I feel glad to have a good condition cylinder with even a bit of the voice captured and hope to someday maybe get a bit more of it cleared up.

melvind
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by melvind »

Jerry B. wrote: Thanks for the recordings. Wasn't that the year that Stacey sang the National Anthem to get the show started?

Jerry Blais
I am pretty sure you are correct. It was nice and impressive as I recall.

melvind
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Re: 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition Souvenir Napkin Ring Rec

Post by melvind »

Phonofreak wrote:If there is some one out there who can clean up the hash on a modern recording, I would research it.
I do have a lead that might help record and clean it up better than I can. So perhaps one of these days I will be able to get a bit more from it. But, Harvey, I am very pleased with what I have and would never let go of it.

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