The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

So, my almost two and a half year old daughter likes my old phonographs. We frequently listen to the Charleston on my Edison Diamond Disc player and play a lot of old cylinders on my Edison Home with repeater and Opera, along with other machines.

What are some good cylinders out there for young kids? I know there is Teddy Bears Picnic out there (I’d be interested in either two or four minute version), but are there any other good kids songs out their on cylinders? I’m not too interested in discs at the moment, she seems to like cylinders more. Thank you any advice!

I noticed that kids back in 1997 took to the song when "Titanic" came out in the movies. Kids picked up on the catchy tune of "Come Josephine in my flying machine" it sticks in your head and easy to sing along to. I'm sure many other good catchy wholesome ideas will be mentioned. I'm glad you have an audience in your house.

D.Edwards

We have that one on a blue amberol and she loves it!

Blue Amberols Bedtime at the Zoo, Ada Jones, I want to be a Janitors Child, Irene Franklin ( both better for 4-5 year olds I suspect)

Some of the sillier songs, like 'Aba Daba Honeymoon', might appeal to young children.

- Bill

The Light Cavalry Overture, (showed up in "Clock Cleaners" which is where my little cousins recognized it on my Amberola)
Casey Jones (became a children's song eventually as did many others from folk music & Tin Pan Alley)
The Whistler and his Dog
The Old Grey Mare (probably on blue amberol somewhere)
Airs from The Mikado (instrumental would work)
Foolish Questions, "
Fol the Rol Lol
In a Clock Store
Make a noise like a hoop and roll away
Three little owls and the naughty little mice
The Arkansas Traveler



There's a lot of fun Peerless Quartet records that will be delightful to share when she's old enough to get it; those are actually really nicely recorded most of the time and some of them have a nice sense of humor ("And the green grass grew all around,")

It's not super hard to delight children with instrumental music either. Little kids don't always have to "get it" because context and the curiosity of a child will always get them a little deeper in. This is an example of a 1935 Iwerks cartoon with the score by Carl Stalling--"The Three Bears" was one that I remember watching a bunch growing up, because 1) public domain DVDs are cheap, yay, and 2) the music was absolutely memorable, and I caught myself researching this thing as a grown man now trying to get an idea of whether I'd dreamed it or not, and two, if I dreamed it, why was the musical score so good? So I found a post on a website called Cartoon Research theorizing that the entire score was built from those fascinating Victor Talking Machine "Pict-Ur-Music" movie house records. I do not know what records were used but they fit the mood absolutely perfectly. https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/n ... -cartoons/



Old cartoons have a lot of cross-over interest with the phonograph hobby because of how many of the 1930s ones had music in them. If you have a wind-up phonograph still in the house, you're probably tired of people complaining that it sounds like an old cartoon--so why not take advantage of that fun quality and delight baby with it. With the Edison repertoire short on jazz but heavy on antiquated band music, this is a good use for some of the records that might be less hotly collectible but still have entertainment value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATagFy2XDRE

A lot of kids, one time when I was playing records on the sidewalk, were delighted with "Did He Run," the Indestructible 2m version, because they were laughing -- the cartoonishly violent lyrics plus their history classes suddenly coming to life with a fat joke about President Taft had them pretty well tickled.

Kids enjoy old phonograph records. The first time I heard an antique phonograph it was a 1912 Victrola playing "On, Wisconsin!" and that got me hooked.

Charles

Teddybear's Picnic
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
When Father Papered The Parlor

James.

BA2697 The Three Bears / Edna Bailey.
BA4986/7 Mother Goose Songs / Lewis James.
BA26084 Die Parade der Zinnsoldaten / Johann Strauss Orchester.

These are great! Thank you! I really want to get teddy bears picnic in 2 and 4 minute. It looks like the 2 minute is instrumental but I don’t think she will mind. If anyone want to sell one let me know or point me to one somewhere online. Thank you everyone!

KCW wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:55 am These are great! Thank you! I really want to get teddy bears picnic in 2 and 4 minute. It looks like the 2 minute is instrumental but I don’t think she will mind. If anyone want to sell one let me know or point me to one somewhere online. Thank you everyone!

The 4 Minute BA is also instrumental. The lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy were not added until 1932.