American Vaudeville
Twenty-five cents would buy you a full afternoon or evening of live entertainment in nearly any city or town between 1880 and 1930. At the local vaudeville house you could enjoy eight to ten acts by magicians, singers, acrobats, actors, trained animals, and comedians. The "variety stage" might be filled by a Shakespearean troupe or an opera singer, and followed by a blackface act, ragtime band, or sacred vocal quartet. The best, as well as the worst, of these acts made sound recordings so that you could enjoy your favorite routines again and again on your own phonograph.
More on the history of vaudeville can be found at the website of the Library of Congress exhibition, Bob Hope and American Variety.
—Samuel Brylawski, UC Santa Barbara, Editor, American Discography Project
- Ma rag time baby / Peerless Orchestra. Edison Record: 700. 1899.
- The stranded minstrel man / Murry K. Hill. Edison Amberol: 16. 1908
- I wanna be a janitor's child / Irene Franklin. Edson Amberol: 952. 1912
- Blitz and Blatz at the sea shore / Fred Duprez and Bob Roberts. Indestructible Record: 1160. 1909
- Just plain dog / Van Avery. Edison Blue Amberol: 1940. 1913
- I'm following in father's footsteps / Vesta Tilley. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 13571. ca. 1906
- La Samaritaine / Sarah Bernhardt. Edison Amberol: 35010. 1910
- Cho-cho-san / Conrad's Orchestra. Edison Blue Amberol: 4356. 1921
- B.P.O.E. / Nat M. Wills. Edison Amberol: 233. 1909
- Dat's what I calls music / Edna Bailey. Edison Blue Amberol: 2743. 1915
- Clarinet squawk-one step / Louisiana Five. Edison Blue Amberol: 3896. 1920
- Hebrew vaudeville specialty: parody Then I'd be satisfied with life / Julian Rose. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9223. 1906
- Hello, Frisco! / Harvey Hindermeyer [sic] and Helen Clark. Edison Blue Amberol: 2687. 1915
- That lovin' rag / Sophie Tucker. Edison Standard 10306. 1910
- Whip-poor-Will song / Joe Belmont. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 7682. 1902?
- Save your money 'cause winter am coming on / Clarice Vance. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9214. 1906
- The baseball girl / Miss Ray Cox. Edison Amberol: 196. 1909
- Play that barber shop chord / Edward Meeker. Edison Standard Record: 10433. 1910
- By the light of the silvery moon / Ada Jones. Edison Amberol: 1521. 1912
- Stories about the baby / Marshall Wilder. Edison Amberol: 57. 1908
- I'm looking for something to eat / Stella Mayhew. Edison Standard Record: 10298. 1909
- I love a lassie / Harry Lauder. Edison Blue Amberol: 1821. 1913
- America, I love you / Royal Dadmun. Indestructible: 3352. 1915