Newspaper articles with Phonograph Connections

 

By Doug Boilesen, 2022

The following articles are another Phonographia scrapbook of connections, with this one focused on the newspapers near the first homestead of the Jules Sandoz family, i.e., Gordon, Hay Springs, and Rushville, all of Sheridan County, Nebraska. Several early phonograph articles from Chadron newspapers are also included.

Most of the early articles appearing in local newspapers about the phonograph originated from newspapers in larger cities. In the 1880's articles often described how the phonograph was being improved and what it would soon do, often with humor. Long before many would hear a phonograph they would read about how it was being used around the USA and the world. When the phonograph became a consumer product in the 1890's the phonograph ads began appearing in newspapers and national magazines.

The following articles are examples of how newspapers like the Hay Springs Leader, Hay Springs Enterprise, and Rushville Standard, Rushville Register, and The Gordon Journal reported on the phonograph and its growing presence in communities as a public entertainer and its place in popular culture as a new member of the home.

Advertisements for local businesses that were selling phonographs and records are also included along with 'notices' of recent purchases of a phonograph that would be identified in newspapers as part of its promotion.

 

The Chadron Democrat, March 25, 1886 (Dawes County) Note: This is the earliest reference to a phonograph in a newspaper near Hay Springs, NE.

 

 

The Chadron Democrat, February 2, 1888

 

 

The Chadron Advocate, August 9, 1888

 

 

The Rushville Standard, November 9, 1888

 

 

The Rushville Standard, December 28, 1888

 

 

The Rushville Standard, May 17, 1889

 

 

The Chadron Advocate, May 24, 1889

 

 

The Chadron Democrat, August 27, 1889

 

 

The Rushville Standard, June 21, 1889

 

 

The Chadron Advocate, October 11, 1889

 

 

The Chadron Advocate, October 25, 1889

 

 

“A practical joker secretly introduced a phonograph in the kitchen…” The Rushville Standard, May 8, 1891

 

 

The Rushville Standard, May 20, 1892

 

 

Poor Julius Caesar - "he never listened to a phonograph". The Rushville Standard, February 15, 1895

 

 

The Rushville Standard, September 20, 1895

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, July 2, 1897

 

 

Rushville Recorder, January 21, 1898

 

 

Gramophones heard at exhibit, Rushville Standard, July 28, 1899

 

 

Rushville Standard, April 21, 1899

 

 

 

Rushville Register, February 1, 1900

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, June 15, 1900

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, October 26, 1900

 

 

“phonograph entertainments,” Rushville Standard, February 14, 1901

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, May 17, 1901

 

 

Hay Springs Enterprisehumor and more, May 23, 1902

 

 

Rushville Standard, October 3, 1902

 

 

The Gordon Journal, April 3, 1903

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, August 14, 1903

 

 

The Gordon Journal, February 13, 1903

 

 

The Gordon Journal, February 27, 1903

 

 

Rushville Standard, May 22, 1903

 

 

Hay Springs Enterprise, December 30, 1904

 

 

The Gordon Journal, May 27, 1904

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, September 8, 1905

 

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, February 2, 1906

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, May 9, 1906

 

 

“Senior Class Reception welcomed by the phonograph,” The Rushville Recorder, May 18, 1906

 

 

Hay Springs Leader, July 27, 1906

 

 

 

Hay Springs Enterprise, September 14, 1906

 

 

 

 

J. H. Dixon Johnson purchased a Phonograph. The Gordon Journal, April 5, 1907

 

 

Martin Johnson purchased a Phonograph. The Gordon Journal, March 22, 1907

 

 

Waterman still sells Edison Phonograph and records. A fine Xmas present. The Gordon Journal, December 13, 1907

 

 

. Rushville Standard, December 18, 1908

 

 

Stories and jokes about the phonograph would also be in newspapers and phonographs advertisements would appear for stores now selling phonographs and records. The phonograph at the beginning of the 20th century was becoming part of popular culture and daily life.

 

Largest stock of records in the west.” The Gordon Journal, November 28, 1902

 

 

The Gordon Journal, August 29, 1902

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, January 13, 1905

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, February 22, 1907

 

 

The Gordon Journal, March 29, 1907

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, April 20, 1907

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, April 26, 1907

 

 

The Gordon Journal, July 12, 1907

 

 

Rushville Standard, July 14, 1907

 

 

The Gordon Journal, October 25, 1907

 

 

The Rushville Recorder, December 13, 1907

 

 

The Gordon Journal, May 31, 1907, July 12, 1907 et al., including front page of December 25, 1908

Waterman's Jeweler & Optician, and Jordan's both of Gordon, Nebraska and the closest stores to the Sandoz homestead where Edison Phonographs and Records could be purchased.

 

 

"Edison’s Famous Phonographs” at Jordan Hardware Co’s., The Rushville Recorder, February 7, 1908

 

 

The Gordon Journal, January 3, 1908

Although they advertised in The Gordon Journal, Chapman's was in Valentine, Nebraska and sold Edison Phonographs and Records, but this store would have been over 90 miles away.

 

 

The Gordon Journal, February 21, 1908

 

 

The Rushville Standard, February 21, 1908

 

 

The Gordon Journal, January 17, January 24, February 28, March 6, March 13 and March 20, 1908

Edison Phonograph ad for Chapman’s in Valentine, Nebraska - said to have the "largest stock of Edison Records in N. W. Nebraska"

 

 

 

Rushville Recorder, July 31, 1908

 

 

Extracted from “John Henry on Poker Playing” by Geo. V. Hobart, The Gordon Journal, October 29, 1908

 

 

 

The Gordon Journal, December 11, 1908

 

 

Rushville Standard, December 18, 1908

 

 

 

Phonographia