THE MARKETPLACE HOW WELL DID EDISON RECORDS SELL? During the latter part of 1919 Thomas A. Edison, Inc. began to keep cumulative sales figures for those records that were still available. The documents were continued into 1920 and then stopped. While the documents included sales figures for all series of discs time allowed me to copy only those figures for the higher priced classical series. Thus the present article includes the 82,000 ($2.00); 82,500 ($2.50); 83,000 ($3.00) and 84,000 ($4.00) series. Should there be sufficient interest it may be possible to do the other series at a later date. While the document did list some of the special Tone-Test records pressing figures were included for only two of them. I have arbitrarily excluded them and propose to discuss the Edison Tone Tests at a later date. The documents also originally included supplementary listings, which, for the sake of convenience, have been merged into the regular listings. The type copy of the major portion of the listings has been taken from regular Edison numerical catalogs and forms the framework of my forthcoming Complete Edison Disc Numerical Catalog. Several things may be noted: 1) Many of the sales figures seem surprisingly small and many of the records must be classed as rarities; 2) Deletion was not always because of poor sales-mold damage also played a part; 3) Records were retained even with extremely disappointing sales. Without a knowledge of the reason for discontinuance we cannot assume anything concerning records that had already been discontinued. Sales might have played a part; mold damage might have been responsible; or the record might have been discontinued as a result of the World War I anti-German hysteria. One further bit of information:-Record 50509-Let us not forget, a speech by Thomas A. Edison, is often considered a rare record by collectors and especially by dealers. It is not! It was issued in March 1919 and had already sold 40,760 copies by the time the list was prepared. There were no returns. (Note: I wish to thank the staff of the Edison National Historic Site for the many kindnesses shown to me during the many years of my Edison research. Mr. Melvin Weig, Mr. Harold Anderson, and Mr. Norman Speiden have been extremely encouraging. It is with much sadness that I report on their retirements. Mrs. Kathleen McGuirk is still actively at work and has smoothed the path of much of my research. Only a researcher who has worked with a staff sensitive to his needs can appreciate the full extent of my debt in the past and hopefully in the future.) R.W. 59
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THE MARKETPLACE
HOW WELL DID EDISON RECORDS SELL?
During the latter part of 1919 Thomas A. Edison, Inc. began to keep cumulative sales figures for those records that were still available. The documents were continued into 1920 and then stopped. While the documents included sales figures for all series of discs time allowed me to copy only those figures for the higher priced classical series. Thus the present article includes the 82,000 ($2.00); 82,500 ($2.50); 83,000 ($3.00) and 84,000 ($4.00) series. Should there be sufficient interest it may be possible to do the other series at a later date.
While the document did list some of the special Tone-Test records pressing figures were included for only two of them. I have arbitrarily excluded them and propose to discuss the Edison Tone Tests at a later date. The documents also originally included supplementary listings, which, for the sake of convenience, have been merged into the regular listings. The type copy of the major portion of the listings has been taken from regular Edison numerical catalogs and forms the framework of my forthcoming Complete Edison Disc Numerical Catalog.
Several things may be noted: 1) Many of the sales figures seem surprisingly small and many of the records must be classed as rarities; 2) Deletion was not always because of poor sales-mold damage also played a part; 3) Records were retained even with extremely disappointing sales.
Without a knowledge of the reason for discontinuance we cannot assume anything concerning records that had already been discontinued. Sales might have played a part; mold damage might have been responsible; or the record might have been discontinued as a result of the World War I anti-German hysteria.
One further bit of information:-Record 50509-Let us not forget, a speech by Thomas A. Edison, is often considered a rare record by collectors and especially by dealers. It is not! It was issued in March 1919 and had already sold 40,760 copies by the time the list was prepared. There were no returns. (Note: I wish to thank the staff of the Edison National Historic Site for the many kindnesses shown to me during the many years of my Edison research. Mr. Melvin Weig, Mr. Harold Anderson, and Mr. Norman Speiden have been extremely encouraging. It is with much sadness that I report on their retirements. Mrs. Kathleen McGuirk is still actively at work and has smoothed the path of much of my research. Only a researcher who has worked with a staff sensitive to his needs can appreciate the full extent of my debt in the past and hopefully in the future.)
R.W.
59
EDlSON DlSC SALES FlGURES THROUGH LATE 1919
AND FEBRUARY 1920
Prepared by F. C. Pullen 6/4/20
Edison Document E4279
82,000 SERIES Issued Sales Returns
Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer(Wallace) Venetian Instrumental Quartet 82032 Before 5434 5
Kathleen Mavourneen (Crouch) fire Venetian Instrumental Quartet 12/9/14
Home, Sweet Home (Payne)Male Voices Metropolitan Quartet 82033 Before 12340 18
Swallow, The (La Golondrina) (Serradell) fire Male Voices
Metropolitan Quartet
Recondita Armonia-La Tosca(Puccini)Tenor, in Italian 82036 Before 2536 29 Giovanni Martinelli fire E lucevan le stelle-La Tosca(Puccini)Tenor, in Italian
Giovanni Martinelli
Tre giorni son che Nina-Siciliana Maria Labia 82037 Before 2848 52
Seconda Mattinata(Tosti)Soprano fire Maria Labia
Bird on the Wing Mixed Quartet 82040 Before 27125 21
Silent Night(Gruber) fire Elizabeth Spencer, Royal Fish & Thomas Chalmers
Voce di donna-Gioconda Elizabeth Spencer 82042 Before 1784 14
Siciliana-Cavalleria Rusticana Tenor, in English fire Reed Miller
Rondo Capriccioso( Saint-Saens) Violin Albert Spalding 82043 Before 38563 186
Meditation-Thais(Massenet)Violin fire Albert Spalding
Hungarian Dance No. 7(Brahms-Joachim)Violin Albert Spalding 82046 Before 15890 40
(a)Schon, Rosmarin(Kreisler); (b)L'Ar16sienne fire (Bizet) Violin
Albert Soaldine:
60
Humoresque (Dvo~k) Violin
Cavatina (Raft) Violin Albert Spalding . 82047 Before 51337 308
Albert Spalding fire
Polonaise In A (Wieniawski) Violin Albert Spalding 82048 Before 14908 16 ·Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms-Joachim) Violin Albert Spalding-
fire
Toma a Surriento (Come Back to Sorrento) (Curtis)Soprano 82050 Before Carmen Melis 1929 41
fire
Manola (La Veritable Manola)(Bourgeois)Soprano
Oft Have I Seen the Swift Swallow-Villanelle Mary Carson 82052 Before 3381 216
(Dell' Acqua)Soprano fire
Mary Carson
Hom, The (Fltfgier) Bass
Wanderer, The (Schtibert) Bass Frederic Martin
82053 89. Before 5271 Frederic Martin fire
Butterfly-Vocal Waltz (La Farfalletta) (Torry) Soprano 30 Mary Carson 82054 Before 2428 Ecstasy-Vocal Waltz (Arditi) Soprano fire
Mary Carson
0 HQlY Night (Adam) Baritone
Palms (Faure) Baritone Thomas Chalmers and Chorus
82055 Before 15427 167
Thomas Chalmers fire
Ah! This Heart with Joy is Bounding-Palomita Soprano 82056 Before 2917 41•
Mary Carson fire
Parla - vocal waltz Soprano Mary Carson
0 tu Palermo-Vespri Siciliani (Verdi) Bass Frederic Martin 82058 Before 2052 59
Vision Fugitive (Fleeting Vision)-Herodiade fire
(Massenet) Bass Frederic Martin
Lullaby-Jocelyn (Godard) Soprano Elizabeth Spencer 82059 Before 8129 60
cavatina, Oh Robert, Beloved-Robert le rue Diablo (Meyerbeer)
Elizabeth Spencer
Toreador Song-Carmen (Bizet) Baritone Thomas Chalmers and Chorus 82060 Before 13542 4
Even Bravest Heart-Faust (Gounod) Baritone rue Thomas Chalmers
61
Auf Flilgeln des Gesanges (Mendelssohn) Tenor, 82061 Before 4516 41