Thursday, March 19, 2026

That Was Easy

I'm trying to figure out if this high school was really named after Staples, the office supply chain store. Seems unlikely since they didn't come up with corporate sponsorship until some time well after this album was released, especially for primary education schools. I'm sure there were business schools named after big donors at the time, and certainly athletic fields or stadiums. But high schools? There has to be another reason behind that odd name. Looks like this Staples is in Minnesota, where the thought of a corporate sponsorship is even more unlikely than in a major coastal city. OK, Wikipedia to the rescue. I see this high school is in the city of Staples, formerly Staples Mills, and was named for two prominent lumbermen in the area with the surname Staples. Unusual name, but at least there's a good reason for it. If you wanna hear what Christmas in Staples, Minnesota sounds like, please download Staples High School Chamber Choir-Ye Olde Christmas (Encore Productions E-159 (Staples, Minnesota), Stereo).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Lirum Lirum
3. Ave Verum Corpus
4. Ave Maria
5. Why Weeps, Alas! My Lady-Love
6. Os Justi Meditabitur Sapientiam
7. I Have Longed For Thy Saving Health
8. Fum, Fum, Fum
9. The Holly And The Ivy
10. Christmas Love
11. What Child Is This?
12. Adeste Fideles
13. Deck The Hall
14. Silent Night
15. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

11 comments:

  1. A somewhat unusual program with only a few "staples," some Renaissance music and an appearance of the 19th century German composer Anton Bruckner - or at least his music, which doesn't feature on many Christmas records.

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    1. You certainly get a huge variety of tunes on these privately released albums that you don't see on records from real record companies.

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  2. Their are the strangest town names out there. Buster, that is an interesting twist on the word "staples" :)

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    1. I figures the word Staples had to come from somewhere, so I suppose it makes sense it was a surname at one point. So many other names have turned into products over the years.

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    2. I went to Bible College, in Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada... The name was a surname of one of the original homesteaders. Can't get anything too much more strange than that... but I know there are definetly some different town names out there ;)

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    3. I'm wondering what the origin of such a surname might be...

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  3. Ernie, what gives here?
    Staples High School Chamber Choir?
    How old are these students?
    Is this a High School for adult education?
    Are these the parents of said High School students?
    It does not matter, excellence is all that counts. A strong 9-10. One of the very best you have shared.

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    1. I dunno, all I can tell you is what it says on the cover...

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  4. Ernie, on the record label it says, encore productions...
    encore please...
    Did they put out anymore albums, of such quality?

    But still, they are definitely not High School students, in the sense of being 14-18 year olds. But who cares, I now give them a 10...

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    1. I suspect Encore was just another of the many companies that specialize in recording and pressing to disc the private productions like this. Delta, Recorded Publications, CRS, there are plenty of them.

      Glad you liked it though. :)

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