Camelot Gift Certificate Advance Sale Record 1960

[melvind]

Here is one of the strangest records I have ever encountered. Actually there are two of them for the same thing, but that is explained in my YouTube notes and to some extent on the video itself. The unexpected content and sound of the record is only in the last half of the short 2 minute video.

Basically, the reason these records exist is because during the previews for the Broadway musical Camelot back in the winter of 1960 the cast was asked to perform a scene on the Ed Sullivan show. It caused so much interest that the pre-sales for the show broke all records of the time. The cast album was not yet available so Columbia records created these little Gift Certificate Advance Sale Records that allowed the owner to get the record when it became available. The content of the record has absolutely nothing at all to do with the show. Instead it is a 45 second or so recitation of Eloise the popular book character from the 1950s.

When I purchased these records I had no idea what they were. What an odd and interesting thing this is. Reading the text on the video will work better if you open the video in YouTube instead of the tiny window below. Has anyone seen or know anything more about these?

(Double-click the video above or click this link to watch the video on YouTube in HD.)

https://youtu.be/Q3oOcFSEBTE