[78-L] Christmas songs...

[Michael Biel]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [78-L] Christmas songs...
From: "RAY KILCOYNE" <kil at roadrunner.com>
Date: Wed, January 13, 2010 11:24 am
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>


From: "Ted Kneebone"
> I miss the anthologies that used to be sold by Firestone and Goodyear
> tire dealers. $1.00 each, many neat songs by well-known artists.

These are known in the business as "self-liquidators" because they cost
just about the buck they were charging.  I don't remember which
particular volumes, but there are several which have been noted in price
guides as being valuable because of otherwise unreleased recordings by
collectible performers. They were good high quality pressings by
Columbia Special Products or Victor, occasionally Decca.  

> I miss the Christmas Carol booklets put out by Metroplitan
> (or was it Prudential?).  RayK 

Although I don't remember these (I had no real need for them), it
probably was Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. because they put out many
series of 5x7 booklets, including a series of great people in history
including one about Edison.  I remember the ads for them on the CBS
World News Roundup with the announcer Bib Hite, who I can still hear
saying "For a copy of this booklet, send a postcard to Bob Hite, that's
H-I-T-E, in care of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., New York 20 New
York, and ask for . . ."   I remember hearing this every day when I was
a kid still in the Bronx, on a white plastic radio in the kitchen -- so
I was no more than 5 1/2.  This is from memory because I really have
never found a copy of a recording of one of thees ads.  For some reason
when I was a kid I cut the corners on the group of these that I had, and
to keep them in order I have my childish penciled numbers on the cover
of about ten of these.  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com