I had a tip from a friend of my son's regarding a cylinder record cabinet in a junk shop. Now, I generally like junk shops, but this shop was really JUNK. Most of it was used clothing and stuff that I would have hauled to the dump. Well, sitting among all this other stuff was an interesting oak cylinder record cabinet! It's a rare form in both its shallow depth and the pivoting shelves. For the price, I couldn't leave it. I believe it's a Rockford cabinet. [EDITED FOR ACCURACY: Thanks to Andersun, the manufacturer is the
American Case & Register Company; Alliance, Ohio.] Here are photos, but the real surprise follows...
As I was preparing to carry the cabinet out to the Subie, something up on a bookcase caught my eye. It was a graphic design of the words, "Georgia Melodians." Hey! I know those guys - their Edison record of
Teapot Dome Blues is one of my favorites. As this flashed through my mind, I thought, "Gee - - this must be a record dealer poster." Well, no...it isn't. With a twinge of disappointment, I realized that this poster was merely promoting a dance to be held by a sorority, although professionally rendered (marked "Kornet Signs"). But that graphic... I could swear I've seen that before...
I asked the proprietor (an attractive young woman in her late-20s who was clearly attracted to a debonair father-figure) about the price on the poster. She asked if I could reach up to get it; possibly it was marked on the back. Nope - nothing on the back. She smiled at me and said, "Why don't you just take it with you?"
I smiled back, asking, "Are you sure...?" She nodding, feeling sorry for the broken-down old grey-beard, hoping he could find his way home.
This morning, I cleaned off decades of dust and dirt from the 45" x 23.75" poster, and realized that not only was the date (May 17) specified, but also the day (Saturday). That meant I could figure out the year - - 1924. The Georgia Melodians broke up in late 1924, so this dance occurred within about six months of the end of this very good jazz band. My interest was piqued, so I did a little more digging, and discovered that the dance occurred 2 days after the Melodians recorded
Teapot Dome Blues (issued as 51347, along with
Savannah (issued as 51346). The band's first two Edison recordings occurred in April, 1924, so they were Edison Recording Artists when this dance was being promoted. (I'm a little surprised it wasn't mentioned on the poster.)
Finally, I was wondering about the dance's location, so I did a little Googling. It appears the Gamma Sigma sorority is for black women, and in 1924 this would seem to have been a relatively rare institution. It does specify the "Alpha Chapter," which may suggest the first one. However, I have not yet determined where this sorority was founded. I did learn that the founders were intelligent and accomplished women; again, not surprising for black women attending college in the early 1920s.
I still haven't found that "Georgia Melodians" graphic. I'm wondering if it may be one of the several books written on Edison Diamond Discs... I'll follow up on that later...
(EDITED FOR ACCURACY: Please see Edisone's posting below. The poster may well have been promoting a dance in 1930 by "Charley Boulanger and his Georgia Melodians." Boulanger was the same frontman for the earlier Edison recording artists, but there had been some personnel changes after the original Georgia Melodians broke up in 1924. And the sorority is probably not the pioneering institution I at first suspected it to be, although I cannot yet determine this one way or another.)
George P.
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