Music recorded in August 1892
August 1892 was a month in which European international politics, urban sanitation, and the anxieties of modern society intersected. On August 18, the French Republic and the Russian Empire signed the Franco-Russian Alliance Military Convention, further increasing tensions within the alliance. Meanwhile, a cholera epidemic broke out in Hamburg, Germany, from mid-August, infecting an estimated 17,000 people and killing approximately 8,600. In the United States, a family was murdered in Fall River, Massachusetts, leading to the arrest and indictment of Lizzie Borden (1860–1927), sparking public excitement about her trial the following year.
Confirmed recordings this month: 0
Summary of information on recordings made in August 1892
Recording-related materials directly referencing August 1892 include Volume 2, Issues 8-9 of the trade journal The Phonogram (combined August-September 1892 issue) and Columbia's promotional materials, dated August 8, 1892. Both documents the commercialization of entertainment (music and storytelling) and current events (elections), based on the premise of the "cylinder," and the distribution of these through regional company networks and automated machines.
Colombian election song
A promotional publication dated August 8, 1892, shows that The Columbia Phonograph Company of Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia advertised that they could "furnish any quantity" of election song cylinders and anticipated increased demand over the next three months. A similar issue of The Phonogram from the same period reported that Columbia in Washington, District of Columbia, was experiencing "great" demand for election song cylinders.
- https://archive.org/stream/ColumbiaPhonograph1896/ColumbiaPhonograph1889-1896_djvu.txt
- https://archive.org/details/Phonogram2_8-9
- https://archive.org/stream/Phonogram2_8-9/Phonogram%202_8-9_djvu.txt
Casey series and automatic machines
The Phonogram introduces examples of coin-operated automatic machines and multiple listening tubes, and mentions the on-site sense that "recordings in which words can be clearly heard" are important for entertainment records. The magazine also mentions the "Casey Series" produced by Russell Hunting (dates of birth and death unknown) as a particularly popular record that generated high profits from automatic machines, and mentions the magazine's relationship with the New England Phonograph Company.
- https://archive.org/details/Phonogram2_8-9
- https://archive.org/stream/Phonogram2_8-9/Phonogram%202_8-9_djvu.txt
License notation and regional company network
The letterhead in the document dated August 8, 1892, clearly states that The Columbia Phonograph Company of Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia was under the authority of the North American Phonograph Company and was the exclusive licensee of the American Graphophone Company. The Phonogram also reports that Charles E. Powers (date of birth and death unknown), treasurer of the New England Phonograph Company, died on August 11, 1892, revealing the extent to which local companies were supported by their people and operations.
- https://archive.org/stream/ColumbiaPhonograph1896/ColumbiaPhonograph1889-1896_djvu.txt
- https://www.loc.gov/item/00694352/
- https://archive.org/details/Phonogram2_8-9
- https://archive.org/stream/Phonogram2_8-9/Phonogram%202_8-9_djvu.txt
