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Hi everyone,

This disc isn't jazzy, but it holds sentimental value to me - it was my very first gramophone record that was given to me when I bought my Columbia portable. It's a recording of popular Victorian poem "The Spider and The Fly". Obviously since it was a kids record it is really scratched and worn - but it still sounds out "loud and clear" to quote the label

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

I enjoyed the story and it reminded me of a children's song about a lady who swallowed a fly. Thanks for sharing the record!

EdiBrunsVic wrote:it reminded me of a children's song about a lady who swallowed a fly. Thanks for sharing the record!

Ah... One of the most expensive record I've ever bought. It cost me $120 to get that darn song

You need to find yourself an Edison Bell "Little Briton" to play that disc on J
Mine's missing the horn unfortunately, although I'm not sure how any kid could hear a record over the shocking noise their motors make. The small cogs are a simple star shape, and these mesh with a large disc with chain around the circumference. It sounds more like a chaff cutter than a gramophone lol.
I notice you have the unusual label version with poor little Jack Horner sitting all by his lonesome. I'm not sure if little Bo peep was later added to keep Jack company, or if she disappeared to go search for sheep, but I've only ever found one example of the lonesome Jack variation.

Lewis Carroll actually made up a parody of this Mary Howitt poem; he called it "The Lobster Quadrille", and put it in his most famous work, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

You know, I always find a typical Victorian manner of Warning against the 'temptations outside the world'. Well, the original poem was written in 1829, so it is technically not a Victorian poem, but it certainly was famous during the Victorian era.

Anyway, thanks for posting and share this interesting glimpse of the past.

gramophoneshane wrote:

EdiBrunsVic wrote:it reminded me of a children's song about a lady who swallowed a fly. Thanks for sharing the record!

Ah... One of the most expensive record I've ever bought. It cost me $120 to get that darn song

There's a recording of this? I'll have to stick it on my wants list, I do love that poem.

Shane, it would be nice - although given what you have said about the noise, perhaps not! As for the label, I assumed all of them just had Little Jack on his own, Ted Staunton's 78 RPM label site shows exactly the same.

I particularly like this because it's not heard anymore. I have recently noticed some "Kid-Kord" record albums full of nursery rhymes going for sale on eBay. Children of the 20s and 30s listened to such different nursery rhymes than they did when I was growing up which is fascinating (the early 90s)

I guess with all the rediculous PC nonsense over the last couple decades, it's not surprizing that many nursery rhymes & kids stories are disappearing into obscurity. I've heard about calls to have Snow White banned because she lives with 7 men, and I wont even go into Rub-a-dub-dub 3 men in a tub
Just last week there was a news report about a private school over here banning the kookaburra in the gum tree song, because at the end it says Kookaburra gay your life must be. I mean naturally every 7 yr old is going to immediately think the kookaburra must be homosexual because he laughs so much

Here's the old lady who swallowed the fly. You better listen to it before some animal protection agency bans it too because animals are being harmed

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsrYu54Nzvs[/youtube]

gramophoneshane wrote:I guess with all the rediculous PC nonsense over the last couple decades, it's not surprizing that many nursery rhymes & kids stories are disappearing into obscurity. I've heard about calls to have Snow White banned because she lives with 7 men, and I wont even go into Rub-a-dub-dub 3 men in a tub

So thats what she is up to. Living in a house with 7 men eh

If you don't mind me asking Shane, why did that record cost so much?

I think it was just a matter of a couple other people wanting it badly too, and a good old fashioned ebay bidding war.
Somehow I doubt if another copy appeared, it would go so high, but you never know I guess.
The Wattle label isn't very common, and it was only made for a short time with 33 discs released on 78 (or so I was "annonomously" told on another forum).
There was a label site that stated only 4 discs were released, and I've got the first 3, but after I saw this one (no.7) I checked the site again & the info had been removed, so I can only assume 33 discs is correct.