Automatic Age

THE PHONOGRAPH VERDICT
The New York Herald-Tribune,
published the following editorial on
February 17, which is clear recogni­
tion of the value of automatic
phonographs in boosting morale and
promoting patriotism:
“Tin Pan Alley has its being-
and contrives to eat with more
or less regularity because of the
ability of its leading minstrels
to guess what most of the people
are going to want and like in the
way of light entertainment in
the immediate future.
“Topical songs that catch on,
the songs which knowing stage
and radio entertainers find it
profitable to wear threadbare
and which attract most nickels
to the mechanical phonographs,
are therefore pretty good clews
to the current sentiment of that
great body of our people who
prefer a snappy ditty to musical
uplift.
“If these premises are con­
ceded the phonograph right now
is proving noisily that Dai Nip­
pon is the American nation’s
pet enemy and that if Secretary
Knox ever said that the war in
the Pacific was of secondary
moment to our sovereign elec­
torate he could not have been
getting around among the gen­
try in denim.
“The old folks say that the
war songs aren’t what they used
to be. The tunes do not force
one to prance as they should;
the lines do not convey very
stirring sentiments, and they
seldom scan. Be that as it may,
the researches of this page’s
phonograph department bring to
light the fact that, for want of
a better expression of public
feeling, there are four or five
post-Pearl Harbor songs which
are popular enough to be almost
incessantly on tap.
“If one takes up his post in
almost any rendezvous of the
toilers he will observe that as
each fellow comes in and calls
for his refreshment he pulls the
paper down the bar, scans the
headlines, fumbles in his pocket
for a nickel and makes a beeline
for the phonograph.
“A few seconds later the as­
sembled company is most likely
being soothed by Remember
Pearl Harbor, which they would
really like to have blasted out
of their memories by some ter­
rific detonations in Tokyo Bay,
or it’s Goodby, Mamma, I'm Off
to Yokohama, or You’re a Sap,
Mr. Jap, a line which is often
challenged by some husky with
“Where’s he get that mister
stuff?”
“Then it is with evident sat­
isfaction that all hands hear to
a rumpity-tump rhythm: ‘We
did it before and we can do it
again,’ which leads off with a
reminder of what happened De­
cember 7, 1941, thereby ‘finger­
ing’ Japan again. Almost the
only very popular one that does
not specifically call for ven­
geance upon Hirohito’s armed
forces is that in which a grim
Uncle Sam, setting out on a
skunk hunt, exhorts all hearers
to ‘Get your gun and come
along.’
“None of which is meant to
suggest for a moment that, in
the mind of the rank and file,
Hitler is not marked to get
his’n. But Pearl Harbor was
even more of an insult than an
injury, and it just rankles and
rankles.”
W OODFIN'S AREA
GROWS
Territorial expansion for Ed
Woodfin, Rock-Ola distributor
in Atlanta, Georgia, was a re­
ward to him after his excellent
past performance. Woodfin has
been representing the Rock-Ola
Manufacturing Corporation for
several years and as a result of
the excellent business developed
in the State of Georgia territory,
he was rewarded with a contract
from Rock-Ola for the State of
Alabama territory.
GETS CLUB OFFICE
John L. Garrahan, Kingston,
Pa., operator, has been reward­
ed for his civic interest by his
election to the office of Secre­
tary of the Wyoming Valley
Eagle Club.
ROY BOWDEN ROUNDS UP HIS BOYS FOR THE BIRDIE
Music merchant, Roy Bowden of Athens, Georgia, is usually too busy to stand still in front
of a camera. One of the oldest operators in the South in years of experience, the cameraman
finally argued him into posing for this picture. Second from the right, Mr. Bowden operates
200 W urlitiers with the help of the efficient organization that flanks him in front of his
headquarters. Says Roy, "I've been in the business long enough to know what machines
make money."
AUTOMATIC AGE
12
© International Arcade Museum
March, 1942
http://www.arcade-museum.com/