On the cover of this sheet music is a drawing of a man standing on the back of a train illustrated by Maurice M. Leaf. There is also a photograph of Steve Clifford superimposed on the train’s railing. The sheet music bears a 1916 copyright and was published by the Dick B. Bruun Company, 11 Wright Block, Omaha Nebraska. An image of Bruun appears on the bottom of the cover along with the logo of his company, which includes a cartoon drawing of a mouse that predates the famous Mickey. He is wearing a suit looking at some sheet music, which proclaims, “Croon a Bruun Time”. There is a full page ad for Dick Bruun’s song, “Thelma Waits for Me in Norway by the Sea”, dedicated to Miss Doris Wilson, “featured in Through the Looking Glass” as well as an image of her and the Wilson Triplets. There is also a small promotion for Pinkard’s “When He Sang that Baritone”.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
]]>This “Terrific Hit” song written by Maceo Pinkard of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown” fame is about a man returning to his home in “Dixie land”. He tells his girl, “Now you can stay up here and have all I’ve seen” but what he wants is to return to, “the best old land the kind I understand”. As he rides home on the train, in the reverse direction of the Great Migration, he looks forward to his arrival where “the band will play some rags”. Janice Cleary, who owns this amazing collection, informs us Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. His southern roots must have inspired this tune.
On the cover of this sheet music is a drawing of a man standing on the back of a train illustrated by Maurice M. Leaf. There is also a photograph of Steve Clifford superimposed on the train’s railing. The sheet music bears a 1916 copyright and was published by the Dick B. Bruun Company, 11 Wright Block, Omaha Nebraska. An image of Bruun appears on the bottom of the cover along with the logo of his company, which includes a cartoon drawing of a mouse that predates the famous Mickey. He is wearing a suit looking at some sheet music, which proclaims, “Croon a Bruun Time”. There is a full page ad for Dick Bruun’s song, “Thelma Waits for Me in Norway by the Sea”, dedicated to Miss Doris Wilson, “featured in Through the Looking Glass” as well as an image of her and the Wilson Triplets. There is also a small promotion for Pinkard’s “When He Sang that Baritone”.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
This is another song composed by Maceo Pinkard, best know for his hit, “Sweet Georgia Brown”. Pinkard collaborated with lyricist Con T’lam and Edwin Dicey who arranged this 1916 tune for orchestra. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection, informs us from her research that Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. The sheet music was published by Independent Music Publishing Company 850 50 23rd Street Omaha Nebraska. On the first page inside the sheet music is an advertisement for “It’s Back to Tennessee for Mine” with lyrics also by Con T’lam and composed by L. A. Clark. This ad urges music lovers to, “Buy it in Omaha” with “Popular Music” at “Popular Prices.”
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
]]>This World War I song is about a soldier’s faithfulness to his country and his girl. The lyrics use the name Tommy Atkins, a term used to denote a generic British soldier, rather than a specific individual. Tommy, “while down in a trench one day”, receives a letter from his girl Anna Shannon. While she begs to see him back in London, he pledges to remain loyal to his duty in the field. The cover of this sheet music shows a drawing of a young woman in a hat and fur collar. A small photograph of the Glendale Quartette is also featured.
This is another song composed by Maceo Pinkard, best know for his hit, “Sweet Georgia Brown”. Pinkard collaborated with lyricist Con T’lam and Edwin Dicey who arranged this 1916 tune for orchestra. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection, informs us from her research that Pinkard was a booking agent and music publisher in Omaha before he moved on to New York. The sheet music was published by Independent Music Publishing Company 850 50 23rd Street Omaha Nebraska. On the first page inside the sheet music is an advertisement for “It’s Back to Tennessee for Mine” with lyrics also by Con T’lam and composed by L. A. Clark. This ad urges music lovers to, “Buy it in Omaha” with “Popular Music” at “Popular Prices.”
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
The cover of this sheet music shows a photograph of a woman seated at an upright piano in what is probably the home’s parlor. The parlor was the best room in the house and oftentimes contained a piano. The parlor functioned as the place where home entertainment, such entertaining guests and the playing of piano music, centered in the home. On the top of the piano is fancy decorative pottery and glassware that was popular in that period, signaling this room was reserved for the very best things a family possessed. The duos name’s Tyus and Tyus are superimposed on the piano scarf, which suggests the woman at the piano and the man standing at the right, are the composers. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers.
The woman is wearing a typical dress from the immediate post World War I era yet the man is outfitted in a top hat and tuxedo. This implies by playing this song, the wider world of exciting entertainment enters a family’s parlor. The man is in blackface, which comes from the minstrel tradition where entertainers both African American and white would apply a layer of burnt cork, shoe polish, or other black substances to their faces and exaggerate their lips and other features with makeup. The use of Blackface reinforced negative stereotypes about African Americans. In the post World War I era, many people viewed these exaggerated images as factual rather than a farcical vehicle of popular entertainment.
Charles Jefferson Tyus wrote the lyrics and Effie Tyus wrote the music published by Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company. The song is copyrighted to Charles Jefferson Tyus Music Company, 2524 Patrick Avenue, Omaha Nebraska. The back page of the sheet music includes a promotion for forthcoming Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company songs. The listing includes, “I Just Can’t Live Without You, Dearie!”, “I’m Tired Living in this Pig-Iron World Alone!”, “I’m Jazz Crazy, Too!”, and “I Want to Go Back to the Farm!”.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
]]>This post-World War I foxtrot is about a person looking for a “sweetie” who would, “Buzz around me like a Bumble Bee”. The lyrics mention being blue and suffering sleepless nights, “Regretting the day that I was born” and pleading, “won’t someone come and take a chance with me”. Near the end of the song the lyrics beg, “Lots of loving is what I crave, Love me when I’m dead and in my grave” implying this person is looking for a partner not just a quick romance. Within the song there are no clear clues as to the gender of this sad person looking for love in the transitional period immediately following World War I.
The cover of this sheet music shows a photograph of a woman seated at an upright piano in what is probably the home’s parlor. The parlor was the best room in the house and oftentimes contained a piano. The parlor functioned as the place where home entertainment, such entertaining guests and the playing of piano music, centered in the home. On the top of the piano is fancy decorative pottery and glassware that was popular in that period, signaling this room was reserved for the very best things a family possessed. The duos name’s Tyus and Tyus are superimposed on the piano scarf, which suggests the woman at the piano and the man standing at the right, are the composers. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers.
The woman is wearing a typical dress from the immediate post World War I era yet the man is outfitted in a top hat and tuxedo. This implies by playing this song, the wider world of exciting entertainment enters a family’s parlor. The man is in blackface, which comes from the minstrel tradition where entertainers both African American and white would apply a layer of burnt cork, shoe polish, or other black substances to their faces and exaggerate their lips and other features with makeup. The use of Blackface reinforced negative stereotypes about African Americans. In the post World War I era, many people viewed these exaggerated images as factual rather than a farcical vehicle of popular entertainment.
Charles Jefferson Tyus wrote the lyrics and Effie Tyus wrote the music published by Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company. The song is copyrighted to Charles Jefferson Tyus Music Company, 2524 Patrick Avenue, Omaha Nebraska. The back page of the sheet music includes a promotion for forthcoming Tyus and Tyus Music Publishing Company songs. The listing includes, “I Just Can’t Live Without You, Dearie!”, “I’m Tired Living in this Pig-Iron World Alone!”, “I’m Jazz Crazy, Too!”, and “I Want to Go Back to the Farm!”.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues”. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1924 copyright held by the Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.
]]>A man’s longing for his hometown, the city of Omaha Nebraska, inspires this post World War I blues song, printed as sheet music. The song is about his dreams of returning to Omaha after a life of roaming and his desire to settle down near his parents back at home. He praises, “The folks in Omaha” who, “are nice and kind”. He goes on about his love back in Omaha describing her as, “just as sweet as any peach from a tree”. This man’s desire for home and all the people there drives him to return there even if as he says, “I have to walk”.
Effie Tyus and Charles Tyus wrote the music and lyrics of “Omaha Blues”. Janice Cleary who owns this amazing collection believes Effie and Charles Tyus were entertainers. The song has a 1924 copyright held by the Clarence Williams Music Publishing Company, of 1547 Broadway, New York, New York.
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the History Harvest YouTube Channel.