THE MARKETPLACE HOW WELL DID EDISON RECORDS SELL? During the latter part of 1919 Thomas A. Edison, Inc. began to keep cumulative sales figures for those records that were still available. The documents were continued into 1920 and then stopped. While the documents included sales figures for all series of discs time allowed me to copy only those figures for the higher priced classical series. Thus the present article includes the 82,000 ($2.00); 82,500 ($2.50); 83,000 ($3.00) and 84,000 ($4.00) series. Should there be sufficient interest it may be possible to do the other series at a later date. While the document did list some of the special Tone-Test records pressing figures were included for only two of them. I have arbitrarily excluded them and propose to discuss the Edison Tone Tests at a later date. The documents also originally included supplementary listings, which, for the sake of convenience, have been merged into the regular listings. The type copy of the major portion of the listings has been taken from regular Edison numerical catalogs and forms the framework of my forthcoming Complete Edison Disc Numerical Catalog. Several things may be noted: 1) Many of the sales figures seem surprisingly small and many of the records must be classed as rarities; 2) Deletion was not always because of poor sales-mold damage also played a part; 3) Records were retained even with extremely disappointing sales. Without a knowledge of the reason for discontinuance we cannot assume anything concerning records that had already been discontinued. Sales might have played a part; mold damage might have been responsible; or the record might have been discontinued as a result of the World War I anti-German hysteria. One further bit of information:-Record 50509-Let us not forget, a speech by Thomas A. Edison, is often considered a rare record by collectors and especially by dealers. It is not! It was issued in March 1919 and had already sold 40,760 copies by the time the list was prepared. There were no returns. (Note: I wish to thank the staff of the Edison National Historic Site for the many kindnesses shown to me during the many years of my Edison research. Mr. Melvin Weig, Mr. Harold Anderson, and Mr. Norman Speiden have been extremely encouraging. It is with much sadness that I report on their retirements. Mrs. Kathleen McGuirk is still actively at work and has smoothed the path of much of my research. Only a researcher who has worked with a staff sensitive to his needs can appreciate the full extent of my debt in the past and hopefully in the future.) R.W. 59 EDlSON DlSC SALES FlGURES THROUGH LATE 1919 AND FEBRUARY 1920 Prepared by F. C. Pullen 6/4/20 Edison Document E4279 82,000 SERIES Issued Sales Returns Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer(Wallace) Venetian Instrumental Quartet 82032 Before 5434 5 Kathleen Mavourneen (Crouch) fire Venetian Instrumental Quartet 12/9/14 Home, Sweet Home (Payne)Male Voices Metropolitan Quartet 82033 Before 12340 18 Swallow, The (La Golondrina) (Serradell) fire Male Voices Metropolitan Quartet Recondita Armonia-La Tosca(Puccini)Tenor, in Italian 82036 Before 2536 29 Giovanni Martinelli fire E lucevan le stelle-La Tosca(Puccini)Tenor, in Italian Giovanni Martinelli Tre giorni son che Nina-Siciliana Maria Labia 82037 Before 2848 52 Seconda Mattinata(Tosti)Soprano fire Maria Labia Bird on the Wing Mixed Quartet 82040 Before 27125 21 Silent Night(Gruber) fire Elizabeth Spencer, Royal Fish & Thomas Chalmers Voce di donna-Gioconda Elizabeth Spencer 82042 Before 1784 14 Siciliana-Cavalleria Rusticana Tenor, in English fire Reed Miller Rondo Capriccioso( Saint-Saens) Violin Albert Spalding 82043 Before 38563 186 Meditation-Thais(Massenet)Violin fire Albert Spalding Hungarian Dance No. 7(Brahms-Joachim)Violin Albert Spalding 82046 Before 15890 40 (a)Schon, Rosmarin(Kreisler); (b)L'Ar16sienne fire (Bizet) Violin Albert Soaldine: 60 Humoresque (Dvo~k) Violin Albert Spalding . 82047 Before 51337 308 Cavatina (Raft) Violin fire Albert Spalding Polonaise In A (Wieniawski) Violin Albert Spalding 82048 Before 14908 16 ·Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms-Joachim) Violin fire Albert Spalding- Toma a Surriento (Come Back to Sorrento) (Curtis)Soprano Before 1929 Carmen Melis 82050 41 fire Manola (La Veritable Manola)(Bourgeois)Soprano Mary Carson 216 Oft Have I Seen the Swift Swallow-Villanelle 82052 Before 3381 (Dell' Acqua)Soprano fire Mary Carson Hom, The (Fltfgier) Bass Frederic Martin 89. Wanderer, The (Schtibert) Bass 82053 Before 5271 Frederic Martin fire Butterfly-Vocal Waltz (La Farfalletta) (Torry) Soprano 30 Mary Carson 82054 Before 2428 Ecstasy-Vocal Waltz (Arditi) Soprano fire Mary Carson 0 HQlY Night (Adam) Baritone Thomas Chalmers and Chorus 167 Palms (Faure) Baritone 82055 Before 15427 Thomas Chalmers fire Ah! This Heart with Joy is Bounding-Palomita Soprano 82056 Before 2917 41• Mary Carson fire Parla - vocal waltz Soprano Mary Carson 0 tu Palermo-Vespri Siciliani (Verdi) Bass Frederic Martin 82058 Before 2052 59 Vision Fugitive (Fleeting Vision)-Herodiade fire (Massenet) Bass Frederic Martin Lullaby-Jocelyn (Godard) Soprano Elizabeth Spencer 82059 Before 8129 60 cavatina, Oh Robert, Beloved-Robert le rue Diablo (Meyerbeer) Elizabeth Spencer Toreador Song-Carmen (Bizet) Baritone 4 Thomas Chalmers and Chorus 82060 Before 13542 Even Bravest Heart-Faust (Gounod) Baritone rue Thomas Chalmers 61 Auf Flilgeln des Gesanges (Mendelssohn) Tenor, Before 4516 41 in German 82061 Heinrich Hensel fire Noctume-E Flat (Chopin-Sarasate) Violin 36 Albert Spalding 82062 2/15 17735 Spanish Dance No. 8 (Sarasate) Violin Albert Spalding Ave Maria (Schubert-Wilhelmj) Violin 82063 Before 32210 46 Carl Flesch fire Chant sans Paroles (Tschaikowsky) Violin Albert Spalding Orientale (Cesar Cui) Violin 82064 Before 12032 78 Albert Spalding fire Sing Me to Sleep (Greene) Con. Merle Alcock Time's Garden (Thomas) 82065 Before 9256 7 Merle Alcock fire Caprice Viennois (Kreisler) Violin 82067 Before 17136 25 Albert Spalding fue S6r6nade Melancolique (Tschaikowsky) Violin Albert Spalding ' Pilgrims' Chorus-Tannhiiuser (Wagner) 82070 Before 17644 26 Male Chorus fue Prolog-Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Baritone Thomas Chalmers Rondine (Vieuxtemps) Violin 82072 Before 23143 31 Carl Flesch fue Le M~nfoier-Mazurka (Wieniawski) Violin Carl Flesch Quando me'n vo (Musetta Waltz) La Boh~me (Puccini) 82073 Before 10658 24 in Italian iue Anna Case John Anderson, My Jo-(Old Scotch Air) Contralto 82075 6/17 9582 309 Christine Miller We'd Better Bide a Wee (Claribel) Contralto Christine Miller Ah! Non Credea Mirarti-La Sonnambula (Bellini) in 82076 Before 7901 72 Italian fue Anna Case Depuis le jour-Louise (Charpentier) Soprano, 82071 Before 18009 396 in French-See also 80119 fire Anna Case Charmant oiseau-La Perle du Bresil (David) Soprano, in French-See also 80120 82078 Before 37580 956 Anna Case irre 62 Che Faro senza Euridice-Orfeo st Euridice (Gluck) in Italian 82079 Before 6696 42 Mugaret Keyes iue Elegie (Massenet) Soprano, in French Helen Stanley Care nome (Dearest Name)-Rigoletto (Verdi) 143 Soprano, in Italian 82080 Before 13569 Alice Verlet fire My Laddie (Thayer) Soprano Anna Case 82081 Before 16335 51 iue Kommt ein schlanker Bursch' gegangen-Freischiitz (Von Weber) Soprano, in German-C 0. 11/21/27 82082 Before 4312 23 Elizabeth Schumann iue Voci di Primavera Waltz Song (Strauss) in Italian 82083 Before 5351 10 Alice Verlet fire Ernani! involami-Ernani (Verdi) Soprano, in Italian 82084 Before 5376 32 Alice Verlet iue My Ain Countrie (Hanna) Contralto 82085 Before 12593 496 Christine Miller fire 0 Rest In the Lord-Elijah (Mendelssohn) Contralto Christine Miller Air des bijoux-Faust (Gounod) Soprano, in French 82086 6/15 4867 26" Alice Verlet Addio del passato-La Traviata (Verdi) Soprano, in 82087 12/15 6773 67· Italian Alice Verlet Song of India (Chanson indoue) (Rimsky-Korsakow) 82088 9/15 6976 1 Soprano Anna Case 0 Beau Pays-Huguenots (Meyerbeer) Soprano, 82090 4/16 5873 117 in French Alice Verlet Trube Augen, Liebchen-Freischutz (Von Weber) 82092 2/16 4954 91 c 0 6/6/24 Elizabeth Schumann Alabama-Plantation Melody and Dance (Spalding) Violin 82095 1/16 8763 238 Albert Spalding Habanera (Sarasate) Violin Albert Spalding All Hail, Thou Dwelling Lowly-Faust (Gounod) Tenor-See 82074 82096 11/15 7685 336. Paul Althouse Habanera-Carmen (Bizet) Contralto, in French-See 82068 Mugaret Keyes 63 ' Pleurez pleurez, mes yeux! -Le Cid (~assenet) 2/16 5569 180 Soprano, in French-C. A. 6/6/24 3209& Julia Heinrich -- · Bonnie, Sweet Bessie (Gilbert) Soprano 17810 103 Anna Case 82099 2/16 Air du rossignol-Les Noces de Jeannette (Masse) &2100 2/16 5179 3 Soprano, in French Alice Verlet Inflammatus-Stabat Mater (Rossini) Soprano 82101 2/16 1656 3 No. changed 3/4/16-See also 80221 Marie Rappold and Chorus 0 patria mia-Aida (Verdi) Soprano, in Italian No. changed 3/4/16-See also 80260-Same 82102 2/16 1663 1 Marie Rappold A1s Bublein klein an der Mutter Brust-Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Nicolai) Baritone, 82103 4/16 6072 299 in German Otto Goritz and Manhattan Male Quartet Der Voge!fa'.nger bin ich ja-Die Zauberflote (Mozart) Baritone, in German-C. A. 11/2/21 Otto Goritz Madre, pietosa Vergine-La Forza de! Destino (Verdi) 82104 5/16 6424 413 Julia Heinrich and Male Chorus Gigue (Rust); Pierrot-Serenade (Randegger, Jr.) Violin 82105 5/16 11371 86 Albert Spalding My Old Kentucky Home-Variations (Foster-Spalding) Violin Albert Spalding Vissi d'arte (Love and Music)-Tosca (Puccini) Soprano 82107 8/16 7426 689 Marie Rappold Bendemeer's Stream (Moore) Contralto-80329 Christine Miller 82113 10/17 8751 8 My Love She's But a Lassie Yet (Hogg) Contralto Christine Miller Dich theure Halle-Tannhiiuser (Wagner) Soprano, in German 82114 9/16 6730 851 Marie Rappold Ritorna Vineitor-Aida (Verdi) Soprano, in Italian 594 Marie Rappold 82115 9/16 6641 Romance From 2nd Concerto (Wieniawski) Violin Albert Spalding 82117 1/17 15412 842 Prize Song-Die Meistersinger (Wagner-Wilhelmj) Violin Albert Spalding 64 E lucevan le stelle-La Tosca (Puccini) Tenor, in 846 I talian 82118 1/17 7936 Guido Ciccolini Vesti la giubba-1 Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Tenor, 82119 11243 in Italian 3/17 1796 Guido Ciccolini Batti, batti, o bel Masetto-Don Giovanni (Mozart) 82120 5581 in ltalian-C.