Today, we’re hopping across the Delaware River to visit the music scene in Camden, NJ, circa 1918. The Greater Philadelphia Region has a record industry history that extends from RCA to American Bandstand to Gamble and Huff, but it all started with Eldridge R. Johnson and The Victor Talking Machine Company.
Johnson achieved massive success via the quality and a diverse offering of musical styles; however, the “His Master’s Voice” ad campaign certainly helped things along. This stained glass window used to be inside one of the Victor factor towers. Courtesy of the Camden Historical Society.
Eldridge R. Johnson in 1926. Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University.
Johnson bought the patents for the gramophone from its bankrupt inventor, Emilie Berliner, in 1900. After establishing his newfound business as the Victor Talking Machine Company, Johnson opened a record pressing plant in Camden in 1905 and soon after released the Victrola, the world’s first consumer record player with a built in horn and storage space. Controlling the recording process, the manufacturing of records, and how to play them, Johnson manned the world’s largest record label by 1920.
To find out more about Victor’s offerings and the national musical tastes in 1918, I researched their monthly catalogues. In January 1918, during the throws of World War I, songs of glory, war, and returning loved ones dominated the pages of the Victor company holdings .
Victor Records Catalogue, January 1918
An excerpt from the first page of the Victor Records Catalogue, January 1918
By viewing this catalogue, I can see into the record stores of 1918. What kind of music did people listen to at the dawn of the Jazz Era? Well, aside from songs of war, Victrola owners mostly listened to folk songs, operatic arias, groundbreaking orchestral music, and Sousa marches. The January catalogue gives us a glimpse into how the music industry reflected and deliberately responded to the cultural, economic, and political changes happening in the world.
Maybe Victrola owners bought this gorgeous and melancholy Enrico Caruso record for $3 to escape the daily reminders of wars raging overseas:
Sources:
Eldridge R. Johnson, 1926. Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries.
Victor Talking Machine Company. Camden, NJ: Victor Records, January 1918.
Photograph of Nipper Stained Glass. Philadelphia, PA: D’Ascenzo Studios, 1915. Camden County Historical Society.
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