LittleNipper
Gold Member
- Jan 3, 2013
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I found this rare beauty accidentally, while doing some unrelated research on the internet. The title is THE PUSSYCAT RAG. This recording is from 1914 and the lady singing is ADA JONES, who was quite popular & prolific --- especially on Edison Cylinder Recordings of the period. She often sang duets with Billy Murray who again was very popular (apparently their voices recorded very well on the acoustic equipment back then).
The word "RATS" is mentioned early in this song. This was a homemade hair attachment women often used to give their hair the "necessary" volume. It involved saving one's own hair from a comb or brush and winding it on mesh. This was in turn shoved in where needed to add lift, etc... My grandmother mentioned doing this when she was a young lady, before the days of hairsprays, and beauty parlors. Women would save their hair in a container that they kept on their vanity or dresser. This recording is being played on a Edison Standard Phonograph with a 2/4 minute attachment. This allowed both the older 2 minute and "new" Amberol 4 minute cylinders to be played on the same machine. Both played at 180 revolutions per minute but the 4 minute cylinders have grooves twice as close and used a diamond stylus to track the groove. The earlier cylinders used glass or sapphire styli for playing 2 minute cylinders. Enough said, here is THE PUSSYCAT RAG.
The word "RATS" is mentioned early in this song. This was a homemade hair attachment women often used to give their hair the "necessary" volume. It involved saving one's own hair from a comb or brush and winding it on mesh. This was in turn shoved in where needed to add lift, etc... My grandmother mentioned doing this when she was a young lady, before the days of hairsprays, and beauty parlors. Women would save their hair in a container that they kept on their vanity or dresser. This recording is being played on a Edison Standard Phonograph with a 2/4 minute attachment. This allowed both the older 2 minute and "new" Amberol 4 minute cylinders to be played on the same machine. Both played at 180 revolutions per minute but the 4 minute cylinders have grooves twice as close and used a diamond stylus to track the groove. The earlier cylinders used glass or sapphire styli for playing 2 minute cylinders. Enough said, here is THE PUSSYCAT RAG.
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