My name is Axel Boilesen.
I was born on a farm
near Cotesfield, Nebraska on April 18, 1923.
When I was a little
boy we had an Edison Amberola, which I think was a Model
30, that was tucked away in a bedroom closet.
I never saw it in
the parlor as we had a radio and if there was going to be any
entertainment, it usually came from the radio. But I do remember
my older sisters getting the Edison out from time to time and
dancing around the bedroom.
The Jolly
Coppersmith was a song I can still hear playing. We didn't
listen to it very often but the Edison always worked very well.
My grandmother also
had a phonograph in their home, a large upright disc model which
might have been a Brunswick. I still fondly remember her sitting
in her rocking chair with me on her lap listening to the phonograph
together.
Axel as a litle boy (center of picture) with
brother Lester on his left, Floyd on his right and his two sisters,
Lois and Fern. (circa 1927).
When World War II
began there were paper drives and scrap iron drives and other
activities to support the war effort. My
Dad had alot of scrap iron and machinery parts around the farm
and he was very willing and proud to donate all that he could.
Included in those
war-time donations was our Edison Amberola. It
was said that donating phonographs would help entertain the
troops and I think my Dad believed that our Amberola would make
it to some USO or army camp site.
1919 postcard showing US Army personnel listening
to a disc playing "Victrola"
Looking back, it
seems unlikely our Amberola ever played music for any soldier
in the 1940's. By
1942 Edison Blue Amberol cylinder records, the record format
used by an Amberola, hadn't been manufactured by anyone in over
14 years so the music selection of an Amberola would have been
very limited and dated.
But if our Edison
did survive the army's scrap pile I'm sure it's still hammering
out those "la la la's" of the Jolly Coppersmith.
Amberola record from 1918
Click
here to download a 1909 recording of The
Jolly Coppersmith.
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German
postcard titled Liebesgaben (alms) shows children
participating in a war-time drive to support their
troops including the donation of a gramophone (little
girl on the far right).
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This
poster was displayed in a Department store in 1918
to support World War I American troops with phonograph
records. The artist of the poster was C.B. Falls.
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Other
Axel Boilesen Stories
Growing
Up - What did we do for entertainment?
Growing
Up - My Danish Heritage
Photo
Album and Geneology
Growing
Up - Religion
Growing
Up - Education
Growing
Up - High School Sneak Day (Class of 1941)
Growing
Up - My Dad the Inventor
Growing
Up - Measure Twice, Cut Once
Axel's
account of his military experience in World War II - Axel
Boilesen: 37-485-424
Axel's
Tribute to his parents - A Christmas Eve memory
1841
Lake Street - The University Years
Axel's
Grove 1976
2013
New Year's Resolution
Next
Time
Memorial
Service and Family Tribute to Axel - March 25, 2013
Committal
Service and Sharing Memories - May 25, 2013 Cotesfield Cemetery
Axel
- A Personal Tribute by Doug Keister - March 25, 2013
Axel
and the Glass Negatives - The Lincoln Journal - August
5, 2013
Husking
Bee for Chris Boilesen 1948 (newspaper account)
Axel
and Betty - Christmas Traditions
Betty
Barr Boilesen Stories
CITY-TV Interview
with Axel Boilesen March 2008 - TBD
Your
Life Remembered.com TBD
Axel Boilesen, a Friend of the Phonograph,
celebrating his 87th Birthday.
Axel in the Radio Room - Photo by Doug Keister
Axel in the Phonograph Room - Photo by Doug
Keister
1991
1997
April 2005 at the Legacy
