MUSIC COMES TO THE SCHOOL

Music in the home had several variations before the advent of the radio. The parlour organ, piano and phonograph had been some of the most popular means of providing music. Some families were entertained by renditions of Stephen Foster's music on banjo or harmonica and several village families could boast they had a fiddler in the family. The closest many families came to music was the church choir belting out the Wesleyan hymns of the earlier generations.

The phonograph brought popular music into the homes. Many of us grew up listening to John McCormick singing "I'll take you home again Kathleen" or Harry Lauder told us all about meeting "Mary on the Road Inverary" and Al Jolson sang "Mammy". Edison popularized the record player with his inexpensive phonograph and tube records. Victor brought music into many homes with "His Master's Voice" and the 78 disc records played on one of the many cabinet model music boxes.

A few village families owned the latest in entertainment, the player piano. This invention, of the turn of the century, brought classical music, Broadway and great piano renditions to the village home. The owners entertained with the sound of a piano by professional players as rendered in concert halls.

Musical culture in the schools became part of education. A piano and a piano playing school teacher could be found in most rural schools but the village school had been content to let the children be introduced to music at home or in church. This omission in musical education was corrected with the purchase of a portable phonograph and a few records, by the pupils. It required many months of self-denial, collections of pennies, nickels, a few dimes and a rare quarter, plus a few public donations in order to raise enough funding to purchase the musical unit.

The phonograph alternated between the two rooms of the village school on a weekly basis. Physical education with its pushups was to the tune of the "Skater's Waltz"; we marched around the room to Sousa's military band music, sang the "Maple Leaf Forever" along with the recording of a Canadian group of singers and on some occasions, a student would bring one of Stanley Halloway's recordings of "Albert and the Lion" , Cohen calling the service garage to have his automobile fixed or Fanny Brice singing a Broadway hit to be played to entertain the students.

The phonograph was a valued addition to the school. Its place on the corner of the Teacher's desk was a reserved area and the operation of winding the spring motor, changing the records and operation of the unit was a duty reserved for the teacher and only the teacher. Children of the era watched while their elders fiddled with delicate mechanical devices.

It is doubtful if the school music box was a means of bringing culture to the village school. A student playing "Casey Jones" on their harmonica during recess, with the lusty singing of the ballad by several developing voices was about as far as musical culture ever progressed.

The village musical revolution came in the mid-twenties with the introduction of the radio and Roy Grigg became the village authority on radio reception. The radio introduced new tunes to the masses, boys whistled the popular song of the day, played new songs on their harmonica and girls who could play popular piano music were in demand for local entertainment.

The village had considerable musical talent, local virtuosos provided musical entertainment when required and the melodious voices of most villagers could be heard Sunday in the churches. The school phonograph might have been termed entertainment but it is questionable to what extent most students became culturized by the recorded tunes of yesteryear.
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