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Acousticon - 1906 Hearing Aid
''Acousticon Hour'' was a "musicale" radio program aired during 1927 and 1928 on NBC. It offered selections from classical music, orchestral favorites, operas and operettas. History The show was sponsored by the company that marketed the Acousticon brand hearing aid, invented by Miller Reese Hutchison. As broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod has noted, in the 1920s a product name used in a show's title was considered a more acceptable form of advertising than the use of intrusive commercial messages: :The most popular program format of the late twenties was the sponsored musical feature. It could be a large symphonic group, a dance orchestra, or a song-and-patter team — and it would usually carry the sponsor's name. The A&P Gypsies, for example — a large, genre-crossing orchestra conducted by Harry Horlick. The Ipana Troubadors — a hot dance band directed by Sam Lanin. The Goodrich Zippers — a banjo-driven orchestra conducted by Harry Reser, when he wasn't leading the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Cross
Milton John Cross (April 16, 1897 – January 3, 1975) was an American radio announcer famous for his work on the NBC and ABC radio networks. He was best known as the voice of the Metropolitan Opera, hosting its Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts for 43 years, from the time of their inception on December 25, 1931, until his death in 1975. Biography Early career Born in New York City, Milton Cross started his career just as network radio itself was in its earliest stages. He joined the New Jersey station WJZ in 1921, not just as an announcer but also as a singer, often engaging in recitals with the station's staff pianist, Keith McLeod. By 1927, WJZ had moved to Manhattan and had become the flagship station of the Blue Network of NBC's new national radio network. Cross' voice became familiar as he not only delivered announcements for the Blue Network but also hosted a number of popular programs. Cross was the announcer for the quiz program ''Information Please'' and the musical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports and art, and often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns. Most newspapers are businesses, and they pay their expenses with a mixture of subscription revenue, newsstand sales, and advertising revenue. The journalism organizations that publish newspapers are themselves often metonymically called newspapers. Newspapers have traditionally been published in print (usually on cheap, low-grade paper called newsprint). However, today most newspapers are also published on websites as online newspapers, and some have even abandoned their print versions entirely. Newspapers developed in the 17th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. She was known by the nickname "The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas". Early life Tucker was born Sofiya "Sonya" Kalish (in Russian, Софья «Соня» Калиш; ) in 1886 to a Jewish family in Tulchyn, Russian Empire, now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. (Sonya is a pet name for Sofiya in both Russian and Ukrainian as well as for Sofya, the Yiddish form of the name Sophia.) They arrived in Boston on September 26, 1887. The family adopted the surname Abuza before immigrating, her father fearing repercussions for having deserted from the Imperial Russian Army. The family lived in Boston's North End for eight years, then settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and opened a restaurant. At a you ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six Brown Brothers
The Six Brown Brothers, later known as the Five Brown Brothers, were a Canadian vaudeville era saxophone sextet consisting of six brothers. They were known for their comedic musical acts as well as their many recordings. They performed as clowns with white makeup and one in blackface. Their performances included ragtime and minstrel group acts. They were instrumental in popularizing the saxophone in America: "During the first two decades of the 20th century, the Six Brown Brothers were arguably the musical act most responsible for introducing the saxophone into American music." History The brothers comprising the Six Brown Brothers were, William, Tom (1881–1950), Alec, Percy, Fred, and Vern Brown. The band was led by Tom Brown. (Additional non-family members also played with the group.) The Brown Brothers lived in Lindsay, Ontario until 1893. The first instrumentation consisted of a saxophone quintet (bass, baritone, tenor, and 2 alto saxes), and in 1913 they added a second ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julia Sanderson
Julia Sanderson (born Julia Ellen Sackett; August 27, 1887 – January 27, 1975) was a Broadway actress and singer. In 1887, she was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to parents Albert H. Sackett (also a Broadway actor) and Jeanette Elvira Sanderson. She used her mother's maiden name as her stage name. She appeared in the Forepaugh Circus (based in Philadelphia) as a child. She then moved to Broadway, where she appeared in Jerome Kern musicals. She was a hit in England, but returned to the United States. Stage career She was first managed within the family circle as a child and teenaged actor, with assistance from her Broadway-experienced father and her mother. At the age of 18 she was in a show called "Brewster's Millions". She then played in the chorus of "Winsome Winnie" and as understudy to actress Miss Paula Edwardes. She was also considered for a part in a show called "The Motor Girl", considered appropriate because of her interest and ownership of the early automobile. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring (April 24, 1871 – January 13, 1961) was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood motion pictures. She was best known for her rendition of " In the Good Old Summer Time." Early life and family Ring was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to James H. Ring and Wilhelmena F. Ring. She came from show business stock. Her father was a comedian for 30 years and her grandfather James H. Ring, was a leading comedian of the Boston Museum company. Her great-great-grandfather, Charles Fisher, was also an actor and came to the United States from England. His wife waJosephine H. Shaw an actress. He journeyed with theatrical caravans as far west as the Mississippi River. Her grandmother was Julie Fisher, a celebrated actress of her time. Her heritage was English-Irish-Scottish. In total, four generations of her ancestors were Shakespearean actors. Blanche was one of six children (five daughters and one son) born to the Rings. Seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Moore
Victor Fred Moore (February 24, 1876 – July 23, 1962) was an American actor of stage and screen, a major Broadway star from the late 1920s through the 1930s. He was also a writer and director, but is best remembered today as a comedian, playing timid, mild-mannered roles. Today's audiences know him as the star of a Christmas-themed movie that has become a perennial: ''It Happened on 5th Avenue'' (1947). Moore plays a vagrant who occupies a millionaire's mansion—without the millionaire's knowledge—while the owner is vacationing. Career Victor Moore appeared in 21 Broadway shows and more than 50 films. His first appearance on Broadway was in ''Rosemary'' (1896). He also appeared in George M. Cohan's '' Forty-five Minutes from Broadway'', which opened January 1, 1906, and its sequel, ''The Talk of New York'' (1907). He went on to star in shows such as ''Oh, Kay!'' (1926) as Shorty McGee, '' Hold Everything!'' (1928) as Nosey Bartlett, Gershwin's '' Of Thee I Sing'' (1931) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelton Brooks
Shelton Brooks (May 4, 1886September 6, 1975) was a Canadian-born African American composer of popular music and jazz. He was known for his ragtime and vaudeville style, and wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. Early life and education Brooks was born in Amherstburg, Canada in 1886. His father was a preacher, and Brooks taught himself music on their church's pump organ. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1901 and that was where Brooks first made a name for himself in music and comedy. While he never learned to read music, his works were highly sought after for their brash style, which contrasted the previous restrictive styles of Victorian era music. Towards the end of his life, his style of music had lost popularity. Career Brooks sang, played piano, and performed on the vaudeville circuit (notably, as a Bert Williams imitator) as well as having a successful songwriting career. His first hit song was " Some of These Days", which he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Brian
Donald Brian (February 17, 1877 – December 22, 1948) was an actor, dancer and singer born in St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada). In 1907, he starred in the hit operetta ''The Merry Widow''. Life and career Brian, a tenor, was employed in a Boston machine shop and, at the age of 16, began performing with a vocal quartet. When he joined a theatrical troupe in New York City, he was soon in demand as a leading man. He had leading roles in more than 20 Broadway musicals. In 1915 Brian signed with film producer Jesse L. Lasky to do two films, ''The Voice in the Fog'' (1915) and '' The Smugglers'' (1916). After the latter he made no more film appearances until the sound era. His first sound film was an excerpt of his role in ''Peggy O'Hooligan'' (1925), made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Brian was president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America. He was married twice—to Florence Meagher Gleason Pope in 1910, and second t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lina Abarbanell
Lina Abarbanell (January 3, 1879 – January 6, 1963) was an American soprano who performed in grand and light opera and musical comedy. She made her debut at sixteen at the Neues Theatre, Berlin and was first introduced to American theatergoers in 1905 as the soubrette in the Josef Strauss operetta ''Frühlingsluft'' (''Spring Air''). Abarbanell made opera history later that year as Hänsel in The Met's debut production of Engelbert Humperdinck's '' Hänsel und Gretel.'' Abarbanell spent the following near thirty years performing on Broadway and at venues across America. After her husband's death in 1934, Abarbanell left the stage, but remained active over virtually the remainder of her life as a Broadway casting director, producer, and stage director. Early life and career Lina Abarbanell was born in Berlin, at the time of Imperial Germany, to Paul and Marie Abarbanell. Her father, a descendant of a prominent Sephardic Jewish family of Bulgarian descent, was a well-know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Gioconda (opera)
''La Gioconda'' is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito (as Tobia Gorrio), based on ''Angelo, Tyrant of Padua'', a 1835 play in prose by Victor Hugo (the same source Gaetano Rossi had used for his libretto for Mercadante's '' Il giuramento'' in 1837). First performed in 1876, ''La Gioconda'' was a major success for Ponchielli, as well as the most successful new Italian opera between Verdi's ''Aida'' (1871) and ''Otello'' (1887). It is also a famous example of the Italian genre of ''Grande opera'', the equivalent of French '' Grand-Opéra''. Ponchielli revised the work twice; the third and final version (that is used to this day) was first performed in 1880. There are several complete recordings of the opera, and it is regularly performed, especially in Italy. It is one of only a few operas that features a principal role for each of the six major voice types. The opera also includes the famous ballet '' Dance of the Hours'', oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
