1917 shellacs: WWI First Aid French for American soldiers

All 6 sides of the Victor Talking Machine First Aid French for American soldiers.

Perhaps give these a good listen before visiting Paris?



Some info sourced from: https://78records.wordpress.com

"Victor 18419 – 18421 (French Lessons Nos. 1 – 6), a set made to assist U.S. troops in France during World War I. The French portions were spoken by one Alexander Guy Holborn Spiers, who had previously recorded some French lessons for Victor with Harry Humphrey.

The English portions were by none other than concert baritone Reinald Werrenrath. The three-record set originally was packed in a special “waterproof container” with accompanying booklets, which are usually missing when these records are found today. They remained in the catalog long after the war ended, finally being deleted in 1926.

Apparently some careful advance planning was involved in producing this piece. It shows a publication date of October 22, 1917 — four days before the recordings were made!

(As always, thanks to John Bolig for the discographical details from the original Victor files.)""

 

Not something I had considered.