[78-L] No Saturday Delivery (no, not the USPS)
Donna Halper
dlh at donnahalper.com
Sun Sep 4 08:37:19 PDT 2011
I am re-sending this, since I sent it yesterday at 5.06 pm and it never
was posted. I am also copying David (as I copied Mike).
First, if this has been asked and answered already, I apologize-- there
was a long period of time over the past year when my entire focus was on
finishing my PhD (which, as I may have told the list, I did in May). So
here's my question. I was reading some old microfilm from the Boston
Herald/Boston Traveler (sister newspapers back in the 1910s and 1920s).
This was from 13 April 1925, a big ad for Jordan Marsh Department
Store. They were announcing a sale on "2500 Nation's Forum 12-inch
Double Disc Records" for 25 cents (original price of $2.00 stamped on
every record!). These were, according to the ad, "orations by notable
Americans on one side, a stirring American march by Prince's Band on the
other side." While I am certain pleased that Prince had a band, I was
also fascinated to see that among the speakers were Calvin Coolidge,
Henry Cabot Lodge, Warren G. Harding, and the guy with the biggest ears
I have ever seen, former postmaster and current movie censor Will Hays.
I had no idea that Coolidge (who was the subject of some jests over his
very nasal speaking voice) made any records for "Nation's Forum," so is
there a back-story about this label or this project? The topics seem to
be informative and patriotic-- for example, Coolidge did "Law and Order"
(#61) and "Equal Rights" (#58) and I assume no controversy was ever
discussed-- no mention of segregation or discrimination of any kind.
Most of the politicians who recorded the speeches seem to be
Republicans, and I have no idea if that was by design or because they
were in power at that time. Anyway, can somebody fill me in on these
discs?
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