I don't think it's a good idea to call 19626 the first electric Victor to be sold unless we have original documentation that it was on sale before 19621 and 19630 on May 1, 1925. I double-checked the Victor monthly supplements from April to June 1925 and it was never listed. It wasn't listed in Talking Machine World either. A database I subscribe to of searchable images of the Philadelphia Inquirer only go up to 1922. Here's a photograph of the 1926 numerical book (taken at the State of Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs office): http://www.phonostalgia.com/1926_nocat28.jpg. 19626 was listed with several numbers that were "issued for the Pacific Coast Trade," marked with a cross, but were apparently never listed in the monthly supplements. The numbers in this photograph are 19615, 19618, 19626, 19629, 19639, 19643-19647, 19649, 19660, 19664, 19665, and 19673. Victor 19832 "Monkey Biz-ness (Down in Tennessee)" was also marked in this book as "issued for the Pacific Coast Trade," although the blue card says "Balt. spec." (Baltimore special?) Sony does have separate typewritten ledgers of special releases and supplements that I never had time to look at. They may possibly have the release and shipping info for these discs. -Ryan
> Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2012 12:38:50 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Victor's first electrics
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> The Victor blue history (release) card for 19626 states that the release of
> April 1925 was "Phila. Spec.," meaning I presume, intended for the
> Philadelphia market, not the Pacific. BTW, Sutton's "Recording the
> 'twenties" cites the disc as Victor's first electrical release.
>
> Sam
>
> On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 9:13 AM, Jack Raymond
> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
> > Ryan Barna wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone have solid documentation (for example, an original record
> >> list or advance notice) of
> >> when Victor 19626 by the Mask & Wig Glee Chorus/International Novelty
> >> Orchestra was released? This
> >> could have been the first electrical recording Victor issued. It wasn't
> >> listed in any of the monthly
> >> Victor supplements, and instead of giving a release date, the 1926 Victor
> >> numerical book list the
> >> release as being "issued for the Pacific Coast Trade."
> >>
> > A couple of thoughts: The Mask & Wig show "Joan of Arkansas," with its
> > huge cast of 75 persons, played two performances in Manhattan on 4 April
> > 1925; so it would seem likely that the chorus was recorded on the previous
> > or following day. Also it sure seems strange that a recording by a
> > Philadelphia student group would have been "issued for the Pacific Coast
> > Trade" when the sales potential would have been largely in the Northeast.
> > Or was it the flip side with the International Novelty Orchestra that was
> > thought to appeal to the Pacific Coast?
> >
> > -- Jack Raymond
> >
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