If you got the chance to listen to William Sterling Battis with his 1916 recordings of "Marley's Ghost" and "The Ghost of Christmas Past," I'm sure you'll agree they're pretty fun.
With these 12-inch 78 rpm records, he gets some room to stretch out, so it's interesting what scenes get highlighted.
I have to wonder if Side One set a new record for most "humbugs" in less than five minutes!
These records are billed as "Character impersonation with effects," although I don't think Side 1 has nay effects, whereas Side 2 has a few, including the fiddler at Fezziwig's party. It's mostly Battis, though.
I think his monologue style is interesting, as he's sometimes he's talking to another character, but you only get his side of the conversation. It reminds me of those telephone routines that Bob Newhart used to do.
I can't really uncover a lot of information about William Sterling Battis, but he was based in America and seems to have been a Dickens specialist.
This little clipping from Dickinson College in December 1927 is very interesting:
Fascinating that they namedrop Bransby Williams!
I imagine that this sort of character impersonation would have been running out of steam in a few years once talking movies became established.
One other related piece of ephemera is also intersting. This ad for Victor Records touting them as educational tools:
Look who's on there!
I'll have to stay on the look out for the other record in the series.
Meanwhile, I think we have to wait 25 years for another recording of "A Christmas Carol" for the home market. Paging Ronald Colman!
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