"A BURGLAR'S EXPERIENCE WITH AN OLD MAID" 1901 Zonophone Record On Early Victor 'R' Phonograph

Here is a delightful early comic song on a 1901 Zonophone 7-inch record played on my earliest Victor model 'R' Talking Machine. The word "Burglar" was apparently not easy to spell for the person in charge of stamping the titles on Zonophone record masters and so we have "A Bergular's Experience With An Old Maid" recorded by Mr. John Terrell. : ) No one picked up the spelling error before pressing had begun so we are left with this unusual and delightful label to wonder about today. The Victor 'R' that I selected to play this is an extremely early example with plain black metal hardware (the usual oxidized metal hardware for this model would come later). This example also predates the rare Rigid Tonearm Victors since the commonly found ID plate: "Remove This Plate To Attach Rigid Arm" is not present. Finally, this model has the unusual original light oak finish and record spindle lock nut. I also included some video of various early paper memorabilia from my collection just for fun! Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy the video.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Victor
• Talking
• Machine
• Model
• 1901
• Zonophone
• 7-inch
• Record
• Antique
• Phonograph
• Victrola
• John
• Terrell
• Gramophone
• Old
• Maid
• Burglar
• Edison

[CapriUni]

I'm currently writing a brief piece on this song (and its variations through history) for my blog about disability in literature. I couldn't catch it on this video, but does the songwriter or composer appear in any of the documents with this record? Thanks!

[MusicBoxBoy]

@CapriUni I cannot find the writer of this song anywhere in my library of early recording artists. Perhaps someone else may be able to help. Thanks for the comments.

[PressureWave]

Fantastic, I love your instruments and the memorabilia, lovely, keep them coming in.

All the best from London.

Luis

[MusicBoxBoy]

My pleasure, Luis. I sincerely appreciate hearing from people like you who take the time to post encouraging comments on my videos. This was an enjoyable video for me to do! Thanks for stopping in for a visit.

[vinylelvis1]

Ahhh Amazing old record! Nice collection too and very nice original player!

[MusicBoxBoy]

Thanks! Good to hear encouraging comments like yours.

[CapriUni]

@MusicBoxBoy Okie-doke. According to one person I've been chatting with about this, this theme has shown up in ballads at least as far back as 1660. So the writer of this particular version may be lost to the mists of time.  Or it may be John Terrell, himself. I was just making sure to dot all my i's.

Is this a case of the "monster" being *in* the bed, and the normal person underneath? ;-)

[distancerunner]

Thanks for sharing...

[MusicBoxBoy]

Thanks for your comment. Glad you liked it.

[MusicBoxBoy]

Thanks, Turkeydoodlers. Good to hear that you enjoyed the video including the early catalogs and supplments. I knew that including them would extend the video a bit but thought it might be neat to show a few.