Cylinder of the Month

Enjoy this nearly forgotten but catchy music (written by Leslie Stuart) from the early 20th Century two-act Broadway musical comedy, "The Silver Slipper".

These early Edison black wax (molded) cylinders – from 1902-1903, without labeling stamped on the end – typically carried a distinctive sound: a little less fidelity in the higher frequencies, more in the lower frequencies, and a bit more machine noise carried into the recording.

To hear Selection from 'The Silver Slipper'  — For help playing these sounds, click here.

Special to The New York Times.   NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 21. —       "The Silver Slipper," by Owen Hall and Leslie Stuart, author and composer of "Florodora," was presented for the first time in this country by John C. Foster [Fisher] at the Hyperion Theatre to-night.   The new musical comedy was received enthusiastically by a large audience.   The book tells a fantastic story of an astronomer who discovers a commotion in Venus which results in the descent to earth of a Venus sextet.   The scenes shift from a college to Venus and then to France.   Sam Bernard as the all-around fakir made a personal hit, as did Snitz Edwards as the astronomer: Edna Wallace Hopper as the runaway boy, and Helen Royton as Stella, from Venus.   The main musical numbers which are likely to prove popular are: "Fun On a Motor," by Cyril Scott and chorus; "If I Were a Girl Instead," by Edna Wallace Hopper; "A Glimpse," by Helen Royton; "Come, Little Girl," sung by a double sextet, and "Four and Twenty Little Men," by Edna Wallace Hopper and male chorus.   The play goes to Springfield for two nights and opens in New York Monday at the Broadway Theatre. — The New York Times, October 22, 1902

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