A Canadian conundrum

[epigramophone]

I recently acquired a collection of record covers, including the one pictured here. "The English Gramophone Shop" seems an unusual name for a retailer in Vancouver, so I would be grateful for any information which our knowledgeable Canadian members might be able to provide.

[bfinan11]

I'm not sure how much this helps, but the notes are the quite recognizable first bar of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, in C Minor.

[jboger]

You beat me to it. I was going to write, "Roll over Beethoven"

[Mr Grumpy]

In this youtube video you can see a similar cover with additional information about the shop.
"The English Gramophone Shop, Mamelok Bros. & Co. (Established in England in 1875)" - same address.

If you advance to the 1:53 mark in the video you'll clearly see it.

Hope that helps somewhat?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEyzbbX6mIQ[/youtube]

[Curt A]

"The English Gramophone Shop" seems an unusual name for a retailer in Vancouver...

I think it would be much more unusual if it was the "Ethiopian Gramophone Shop", as there seem to be a fair amount of English descendants in Canada...

[bfinan11]

Upon further review, I have one of these. I don't think it'll help much in identifying it, but mine ended up on a Columbia E-series of Elzear Hamel's "Ladébauche", which (I don't speak French but) seems to be a Québécois version of Uncle Josh?

[epigramophone]

In this youtube video you can see a similar cover with additional information about the shop.
"The English Gramophone Shop, Mamelok Bros. & Co. (Established in England in 1875)" - same address.

If you advance to the 1:53 mark in the video you'll clearly see it.

Hope that helps somewhat?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEyzbbX6mIQ[/youtube]

Thank you Mr Grumpy, this has certainly helped.

The cover in the YouTube clip shows the name of the proprietors, which mine does not. This has enabled me to confirm that the Mamelok Brothers did indeed open a music shop in Manchester (UK) in 1875, which remained in family ownership until it closed in 1993.

They are known to have imported banjoleles from Germany which they branded as "Perfect Mamelok Tone", and a number of these instruments survive. Pictured below is their logo from the inside of an instrument case.

It would appear that at some time in the past a family member emigrated to Canada and set up in the music business there. I have yet to discover who and when.

[Curt A]

Upon further review, I have one of these. I don't think it'll help much in identifying it, but mine ended up on a Columbia E-series of Elzear Hamel's "Ladébauche", which (I don't speak French but) seems to be a Québécois version of Uncle Josh?

Elzéar Hamel, actor (1871-1944)

Elzéar Hamel's voice made its way into homes of French-speaking record buyers not through song, but via the comic monologues he recorded for Columbia and His Master's Voice between 1916 and the late 1920s. In a departure from his usual dramatic roles, Hamel recorded several dozen comic monologues, most of which featured the adventures of a traditional character known as "Ladébauche" (a drunkard or immoral person), a role that he had also performed on stage. Starting in 1916 with "Ladébauche au téléphone" ("Ladébauche on the phone"), he made a large number of comic recordings on the Columbia label. Sometime between 1924 and 1926, he recorded his monologues for the His Master's Voice 263000 series, which was devoted to French-Canadian recording artists. Later on he made a few recordings for Brunswick. Among Hamel's many recordings in the "Ladébauche" group are "Ladébauche, dompteur de lions" ("The lion-tamer"), and "Ladébauche, le rebouteux" ("The bone-setter"). Some of Hamel's recordings also featured the voices of the well-known French-Canadian actors, Alexandre Desmarteaux and Blanche Gauthier, among others.

La débauche=Debauchery

[bfinan11]

Good to know! Are they particularly desirable?

I picked up about a dozen Ladébauche records, and a few other French-Canadian comedy records (Aglaé au téléphone, Dans la pharmacie, etc) in a box lot at Brimfield hoping it would have Acadian music in it (which it did). Of course not knowing the language, they're at the top of my sell list...

[Curt A]

Of course not knowing the language, they're at the top of my sell list...

You could play them with voice recognition software into Google translator and get a new appreciation for them... or buy Rosetta Stone for Christmas and have fun learning French...