Cross the Great Divide

Today we are going to be playing a little bit more of music/history detectives!

I found this piece of sheet music in an old box at the antique store (surprise surprise), and was really taken with the epic artwork and pristine condition of the piece.

In the blue inset there are two people, a man and a woman. It's very common for sheet music of t his time to feature the photograph or likeness of popular performers of the day who would sing the music. In this case I was intrigued by the duo pictured, as they have different last names. Were they a married couple? Was one a singer and the other an instrumentalist?

It seems that Horace and Rene preformed a prodigious amount of songs together, though there is little in the way of biographical information online for either of them. I did find a digitized copy of a book called "Who's who in music and drama: an encyclopedia of notable men and women in music and the drama" from 1914. It says that Horace Wright was born in England and came to the US at the age of 4. He began his career as a boy soprano in church choirs and quartets. He broke into Vaudeville shortly thereafter and married Rene Dietrich in 1909. They preformed widely together in Vaudeville acts.

Besides that I wasn't able to find out much about them! Surprising given how many songs they did together...

So, this is kind of awesome. There is an actual recording of Wright and Dietrich singing together on YouTube. It's a different song but it's pretty interesting to be able to hear their voices! Warning: it gets a little shrill, so adjust your speakers accordingly ;)




Because this sheet music is in such lovely condition (I just don't have the heart to cut it), I'm listing it for sale in my shop, check it out if you are looking for something different and pretty to frame!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78473542/vintage-sheet-music-cross-the-great

No more putting it off...something new!

So I know I’ve been starting a lot of blog posts recently with “It’s been a while, so sorry…” but if you will bear with me just once more....

It’s been a while, so sorry I haven’t been updating and responding to comments recently! It seems like I always have a million excuses when it comes to my blog. Here are some recent favorites:

-It’s been really hot out, making me not want to sit down and write for fear my brain will melt

-My laptop lost its battle against its dying battery and fraying powercord.

-I expertly sliced my finger while cutting a pepper, and the stiches make it uncomfortable to type for long

-I can never think of anything to write!

Annnnnd shortly after I finally sat down to write this post the power went out and ate it!

Ok, no more excuses. I have been working on something that I’m pretty excited about and want
to share.

So, I have a lot of fun cutting up old sheet music (have you noticed?) and collaging it together to make new pieces of art. I like using the images and words in unexpected ways that the original artists never would have. But it can sometimes be a little limiting to only work with what has already been created; do you know what I mean? A little while ago I was staring a blank, wood plaque I bought trying to visualize what I would do with it.

Ok...have you ever seen Mystery Science Theater 3000? I know this is so random, but you know on the
show how they show the movie and then they have the character’s silhouettes sitting in the theater seats superimposed over it? Well that gave me an idea.

Ok…one more tangent! Last one, I promise! I have been getting really interested in the Vaudeville era and culture. I love the sheet music covers that show all the Vaudeville stars and the advertisements for the shows. So I put together those two things, my blank wood plaque, and a pinch of Regretsy (hopefully not really though?), and got this…



I’ve already yapped a lot so let me quickly explain what
you’re looking at.

I took this photograph of the Keith-Albee Theatre in Cincinnati and traced it in pencil on my
plaque. Then I filled it in with sheet music. Even the solid colors and white are from sheet music. I wanted to create something totally new. I wanted to give a new kind of life to every little piece of sheet music that’s been forgotten. Most of all I wanted to pay homage to a much forgotten art form/ form of entertainment and the beautiful architecture the Vaudeville era. So what do you think? I am working on another one right now of the beautiful, old Orpheum Theater in Boston. While I think my first attempt came out pretty well, it’s still very much a rough draft of what I would like to do with these in the future!

Pucker Up and Whistle

"Pucker Up and Whistle (Til the Clouds Roll By)" is another great piece of music I found on my last trip. It's in better condition than most of the pieces I buy for cutting, but everything was so cheap (the lady just gives me a bunch of this stuff sometimes) that I couldn't pass it up. I mean, look at that art on the front! So romantic!

There are a lot of names on this piece, and I really wanted to know some of the story behind them.

Let's start with Blanche Franklyn. One of the things I love about sheet music from this era, is that women were a huge part of the industry. In this case, Blanche was the lyrics. She was a vaudeville actress collaborated with Nat Vincent on other songs of the day. Here is a photo of her from the University of Washington library.

Blanche Franklyn

Besides that, I couldn't find a whole lot out there on Blanche. Mr. Vincent, on the other hand...
Nat Vincent was born Nathaniel Hawthorne Vincent (love it) on November 6, 1889. Nat was also in vaudeville, and you actually probably know one of his songs. Ever heard "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"? I bet you have! He also worked as a sheet music demonstrator in department stores, and was part of the radio recording group "The Happy Chappies". More info on Nat and his career can be found here.

Ok, so who is this winsome lady on the cover? It says "Introduced by Yvette Rugel". Well, yep, that is none other than Ms. Rugel. I really could not find a whole lot on Yvette either, which is a shame, because I would love to know more about some of these women. Apparently she was a vaudeville actress (no surprise there) during the last wave of vaudeville and also preformed on Broadway. She must have been a pretty big deal because her face appears on at least a few different pieces of music (which I am assuming she preformed as well). Here is a photo from her a little later in life it looks like.

So here is something kind of awesome...someone recorded "Pucker Up and Whistle" on piano with all the lyrics...enjoy!
Click here!