Here's an interesting little artifact I found in the stacks one day. I don't remember buying it, it's like it just sort of appeared on the shelf one day. I'm sure that's not the case, I probably just grabbed it in a hurry and never took the time to properly appreciate what it was. The banner across the top is a gold leaf overprint, meaning it was added after the cover was printed, kinda like how they put your name on your yearbook back in high school. Before I noticed that, I suspected this may be a local record, but once I realized what had been done, I figured it was just a local copy of a larger release. I found another copy shared out just this year
over here, and their copy was overprinted with a different paper, The Detroit Free Press. So I'm guessing maybe this was a marketing deal for local newspapers. The cover tells us this is part of the "Read As You Listen" series, and there is an associated book from the Storytoon series. I don't have the book, but hopefully it will turn up someday. Playing the record after all that research reveals that it's mostly a spoken word thing with familiar and unfamiliar Christmas stories, with the occasional Christmas carol thrown in. Interesting enough, I guess. Illustrations are credited to a Carroll E. Spinney, but I'm pretty sure
Big Bird didn't have anything to do with this. If you're curious, download and listen to
Margie Bell With Rosa Rio And The Carolers-
Our Christmas Heritage (Storytoon No Number, Mono, 1963). Oh, I neglected to mention there is a whole
series of these Heritage records. I see them occasionally in the thrift stores, but never paid much attention to them. And the paper that put this out,
The Sarasota Journal, appears to have been the afternoon edition of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a paper that's still with us today. The afternoon paper seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur back in 1982.
1. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
2. The Legend Of La Befana
3. The Woodcutter And The Christ Child
4. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
5. Three Flower Legends
6. The Christmas Story With O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Away In A Manger; The First Noel; We Three Kings Of Orient Are; Silent Night, Holy Night; O Come All Ye Faithful
MEGA
Carroll Edwin "Big Bird" Spinney is an illustrator and cartoonist as well as a Muppeteer, so yes, it's most likely his work.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI found another one while in LA! This one is marked with a peper from Honolulu, Hawaii!!
ReplyDelete