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Luigi Romanelli: Monarch of Melody
Part III

Listen to Luigi Romanelli
an Edison electric recording from 1929
and four recorded radio broadcasts from 1939

Luigi’s Other Enterprises

Paramount Theatre on St. Clair Avenue West, opened in August 1935
(courtesy City of Toronto Archives, SC.488-4800)

A classified advertisement appeared (TDS, June 8, 1933, p. 40) inviting musicians, instrumentalists, singers, radio artists, dancers, orchestras, soloists and entertainers to apply to the United Music Corporation (UMC) of Canada, 2nd floor, 46 King Street East, across from the KEH. Later, Romanelli offered a silver trophy to the best radio announcer in Toronto on behalf of the UMC (TDS, July 28, 1933, p. 5) and there followed a series of classified ads for "United School of the Air", UMC, now at 34 King East. Luigi Romanelli was President of UMC (TDS, Sept. 16, 1933, p. 27) and among the staff Luigi himself taught broadcasting technique for instrumentalists and orchestras (TDS, Oct. 12, 1933, p. 46). In the last ad, for United School of Vocal and Dramatic Art at 34 King East, Romanelli was not mentioned (TDS, Mar. 9, 1934, p. 24).

He bought an 8-acre estate in the Don Valley at York Mills in 1930, intending to build a $100,000 show-place French or Italian chalet (TDS, July 30, 1930, p 5).

Architect’s drawing of the Tudor facade of The Village Theatre, Spadina Road. The theatre opened on October 23, 1936. Perhaps Luigi also built the Avenue Theatre at Eglinton and Braemar.
(City of Toronto Archives)

Later, Romanelli announced his plans for a $6000 (sic.) theatre building at 1069-1071 St. Clair Avenue West (TDS, Apr. 12, 1935, p. Z99) and this new 432-seat Paramount Theatre opened four months later (TDS, Aug. 23, 1935, p. 25; Nabes, p. 100). The theatre was streamlined and fire-proof, of Spanish-American style, with cool water-washed air and extra-wide cushioned seats. He next bought land (TDS, Sept. 13, 1935, p. 9) and with Famous Players built a $55,000, 800-seat movie theatre in Forest Hill Village, The Village Theatre, at 422 Spadina Road just north of Lonsdale (TDS, Jan. 13, 1936, p. 20). "Canada’s Most Distinctive Theatre" opened October 23, 1936. "The old world charm of Tudor design combined with the most modern in theatrical engineering" was Luigi’s dream. Patrons entered an old English garden with wide gate-posts and antique lanterns, then a long and luxurious Elizabethan lounge opening into a coffee-and- sandwich bar led to the auditorium in the rear (TDS, Oct. 23, 1936, p. 27). The theatre boasted "...Easy Chair comfort in luxurious seats (individually petit-pointed), wide range sound, perfect acoustics, air conditioned...free parking..." (G, Oct. 23, 1936, p. 2). The 50 x 70-foot theatre with its bowl-shaped auditorium is long gone, but the peaked frame of its Old English Renaissance facade and the 20 foot-long lounge are still there. Both of Luigi’s theatre fronts are now dry cleaning establishments.

Luigi looked the quintessential English-Canadian gentleman, making "it his business to be impeccably dressed....immaculate, soft spoken... and appeared the fine gentleman at all times" (TLTP, p. 24).

Luigi, Selina and Betty Romanelli, with dogs, circa 1935
(courtesy Dante del Greco)

In fact, there are traces of an English accent in his Fitch Bandwagon radio interview. He collected antiques, paintings and racing horses (TDS, May 25, 1932, p. 22; TDS, July 29, 1942, p. 2; ET, July 29, 1942, p. 17), had several farms, including a 300-acre farm on the north-west corner of Bathurst and Steeles (TDS, Oct. 26, 1942, p. 17), a "country estate" at Langstaff for his horses (TSW, Sept. 10, 1932, p. 6) and another at Markham and Highway 7 (BRS; G, Dec. 15, 1936, p. 17). He was a member of Thornhill Golf Club, Cedarbrook Golf Club and Lawrence Park Bowling (ET, op. cit.).

Luigi suffered a severe heart attack at Murray Bay around July 20, 1942 and died there on July 29 (TDS, July 29, 1942, p. 2; NYT, July 30, 1942, p. 21). His widow Selina died suddenly of a heart attack seven years later (TDS, May 26, 1949, p. 12).

Don, who had led the orchestra on Lake Ontario cruise ships and toured with his own bands, had filled in at the KEH for Luigi and had directed at the Royal York Hotel in the early 1930s (TSW, Sept. 10, 1932, p. 6). Don took over the KEH Orchestra after Luigi’s death and Leo, who had played in Luigi’s "Monarchs of Melody", took over from Luigi at Murray Bay and later took over from Don at the KEH (TDS, Oct. 6, 1954, p. 10; TDS, May 21, 1960, p. 59).

What Was Luigi Like as a Violinist?

Before WW I, he was good enough to tour as a soloist, to teach at the Columbian and the Hambourg Conservatories and to have been among the first violins in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. After 1920, playing popular music, his technique had deteriorated. Young Toronto violinist Maurice Solway, a pupil of von Kunits and Czaplinski, played in Romanelli’s King Edward Hotel Orchestra and every day at 2 p.m. would rush off to play in Jack Arthur’s band at the Shea’s Hippodrome:

This photo of Luigi Romanelli appeared as early as 1930 in an endorsement of Buckingham cigarettes (TDS, Feb. 21, 1930, p. 10) and later on the cover of the Remick sheet music for the 1935 song "Sweet and Slow". Around 1937 he bought the "Colossus" violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716. The "Colossus", which had previously belonged to Viotti, Baillot and Thibaud, was stolen in Rome in 1998.

"Romanelli liked the way I played, if not the way I refused to kick back part of my pay in return for engagements.....Many years later I learned that Romanelli contributed to the support of his entire family and many friends". When questioned by Romanelli in 1924 as to why he was leaving for Belgium to audition for the great Ysaye, the cocky Solway said, "Because I don’t want to wind up as a lousy violin player like you." He observed that Romanelli was not a very good player and by 1922 had a vibrato "from here to Africa" but added, "Before I left for Europe...for all of our differences, the man was big enough to wish me luck" (TLTP; Solway, p. 25). On the other hand, Horace Lapp, veteran pianist and band leader, thought that Luigi was "a good fiddle player with a smooth, sentimental style" (BCDT, p. 2). Luigi’s surviving commercial recordings and radio broadcasts, unfortunately, do not give much of an indication of his playing.

One night in the Oak Room, violinists Luigi, Hyman Goodman and Isadore Sherman played "Goofus" with Percy Faith at the piano, "broke into a remarkable burlesque of the Poet and Peasant Overture, with much unexpected squeaking in the upper registers" and then "treated the Oak Room to a real jam session" (TDS, Mar. 23, 1939, p. 26). The Globe’s radio editor said, "Romanelli is one of the most interesting personalities this country has ever produced .....Romanelli sought to win and won by dint of elegance and vigor alone; and we take some pride in the fact that....this column in The Globe was first to draw attention to the glow of the new star in the radio firmament....Luigi has a smile which he can send over the bridge of his vibrating violin that, in itself, is an asset almost as great as his musical talent" (G, Jan. 28, 1931, p. 13).

His pride and joy was the 1716 "Long Model" violin, the "Colossus", made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 (though the TDS said 1719). Luigi bought it from R.S. Williams, Toronto, around 1937 for $25,000 and it was then the only Stradivarius in Canada. He did not use it for his regular work and kept it locked away in a vault, along with a 150 year-old Tourte bow (TDS, Feb. 13, 1937, p. 21).

Luigi Romanelli’s Compositions

"Ode to Victory", based on Churchill’s "Give us the tools" speech (TDS, Sept. 2, 1941, p. 24)

"Sunrise and Moonrise", lyric by Mitchell Parish, music by Luigi Romanelli and Harry Gesner; Mills Music, New York, 1931

"There’s a Blackout in My Heart", lyric by Norman Harris, music by Luigi Romanelli (TDS, Feb. 11, 1941, p. 22)

Luigi Romanelli’s Recordings

Certain dance orchestras, like Guy Lombardo’s, retained their distinctive sound through the years, with minor changes in timbre and tempo. Others, like Romanelli’s, changed rapidly with the times and with fashions in dinner dancing, as can be surmised from his few widely spaced recordings. Jimmy "Trump" Davidson said, "Luigi was always changing the style of the band. He’d hear a broadcast or a recording by Isham Jones or maybe Hal Kemp and go back to the hotel and scrap his current library" (BCDT, p. 2). When the fashion for wailing saxophones, piano and banjo went out, brass came in and soon after the brass was replaced by soft violins and cooing winds. And then the brass came back again, for the big bands.

Luigi Romanelli is shown here leading his famous dance orchestra at CFRB in the Rogers-Majestic silent film "Canada’s Finest", c. 1931.

Davidson also said that Luigi had a talent for hiring the right people (BCDT, p. 2). Around 1937, when Lew Lewis and every saxophone player in Toronto came out to audition for a tenor sax spot in Luigi’s orchestra, Gordon Day told Lewis that Luigi liked a lot of pathos and emotion, to ham it up as much as possible. Lewis passed the technical and schmaltz tests and was hired (TLTP, p. 27). Once, when several of Luigi’s orchestra deserted him for a new band at the Royal York, Luigi fired the rest because they were apparently not good enough for the rival (Arpin, p. 94). Jimmy Cooke reminisced, "...Luigi controlled almost all of the music in Toronto in those days. 'If you didn’t work for Luigi, then you didn’t work in Toronto' was a common saying among the musicians" (TLTP, p 27). Murray Ginzburg concluded, after talking to many musicians, that Romanelli was a man of great integrity and an on-going standard-setter in Toronto’s and Canada’s music business (TLTP, p. 28).

Over the years, his arrangers included "Trump" Davidson, "Red" Ginzler, Johnny Burt and Percy Faith. He often went to New York City to seek advice on his music arrangements (BRS). Romanelli’s surviving CKGW radio orchestra collection ended up, after some peregrinations, in the Archives and Research Collection Centre at the University of Western Ontario and consists of over 2,500 scores, including light classical music, music for silent films and Canadiana scores by Nathaniel Dett, Percy Faith, Luigi von Kunits and Rex Battle. The index alone to that library amounts to 204 pages (LRP)!

Portrait of Luigi sitting in a chair at his Glenview Avenue house, circa 1940
(courtesy BRS)

Romanelli and his Allen Theatre Orchestra made his first two dance recordings for Herbert Berliner’s dark blue HMV label in Montreal around March, 1922 (JL). We found two release announcements, 46 days apart (LA, April 15, 1922, p. 4; G, June 1, 1922, p. 15), but there is no indication of the personnel and no studio records exist. Jack Litchfield and Brian Rust speculated that this Allen Orchestra was Luigi Romanelli (violin), Nat Cassells (saxophone), Larry Cortese (harp), Cecil Figelski (violin), Ben Seth (bass), Jack Curry (piano) and Eugene Fritzley (drums), based upon the 1921 photograph of the King Edward Hotel Orchestra (TLTP, p. 26). Listening to the HMV recordings reveals many quite different timbres. The sound of Luigi’s violin is there, a saxophone, piano, percussion and maybe a double bass. There is also a trumpet or two, a trombone, a clarinet, a banjo and perhaps even a flute. It is not clear, however, how many musicians were in the studio, since several of them may have been able to double on other instruments. It is possible Luigi was actually leading the Montreal-based Metropolitan Dance Orchestra in the Berliner studio. The Metropolitan is on the flip sides of both Romanelli discs and it had a violin, trumpet, trombone, banjo, saxophones, bass, piano and percussion (Moogk, p. 246). As on the Romanelli side of HMV 216360, there is a lot of flute as the leading voice, which is curious for that period. Unfortunately, these Berliners had no matrix numbers and no score for either of these songs is in the UWO collection.

Ed Moogk listed the composite Romanelli personnel, 1923-30, as Cub Murray, Nat Cassells, Cy Stark, Eddie Stroud, Jack Madden,"Red" Ginzler, Carroll Lucas, Norm Eldridge, Jack Currie, Freddy Treneer, Roger Radford, Ben Seth, Gurney Titmarsh, Leo Romanelli and "Trump" Davidson (Moogk, p. 260). Pianist Frank Walsh, pupil of Ernest Seitz, played for Luigi before leaving for England in 1924 to join the New Prince’s Toronto Band (G, May 8, 1944, p. 7), and so did John Langley, the 9-fingered violinist. For a short time, Lombardo brother Victor played for Luigi (G, Sept. 2, 1938, p. 15).

Luigi Romanelli and His King Edward Hotel Orchestra recorded two Needle Cut (lateral-cut) electric sides for Thomas Edison in New York on September 18, 1929. The sides were on the market as disc #80532 for a brief time just as the Great Depression was hitting, but the vertical-cut Diamond Disc sides recorded at the same time were never released. The Edison Studio Diary for September 18, 1929, page 261 (courtesy Joe Moore; Gerald Fabris, ENHS), notes that the Romanelli Diamond Disc sides were the last Diamond Disc masters made.

There has been controversy for years about whether the band on the Edison discs was Romanelli’s own. Listening to the discs, both Diamond Discs and Needle Cuts (lateral-cut), courtesy of the Edison National Historic Site (ENHS), Romanelli’s violin is in evidence but the orchestration and the playing are of a very different order from the earlier Berliner Victors, the later radio broadcasts and the RCA Bluebirds. Some have conjectured that Edison used his own house band, the Piccadilly Players, in the recordings along with his own vocalist, Walter Scanlon (a.k.a.Walter van Brunt).

Page 70 of Edison Cash Book 21, stamped September 16, 1929 showing that, on the 18th, Romanelli, Mel Morris Orchestra, Walter Scanlon and three extra musicians were listed for matrices N-1136-1137. Romanelli and Mel Morris Orchestra are not being shown as paid.
(courtesy Joe Moore, Suffolk and Gerald Fabris, Edison National Historical Site, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior)
Page 77 of Edison Cash Book 21, stamped September 23, 1929 showing that “Piccadilly Players” were paid $390.00 for matrices N-1136-37, between September 17 and 20.
(courtesy Gerald Fabris, Edison National Historical Site, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior)

Looking into the Edison recording studio paper-work (thanks to Joe Moore, Ray Wile and to Gerald Fabris of ENHS), there are peculiar discrepancies in the diary entries for the personnel and payments for that session. The Edison Studio Diary for Wednesday, September 18, 1929, shows clearly that two selections on Diamond Disc, "Perhaps" (matrix 19348-B-1-1) and "Pretending" (matrix 19349-B-1-1), and the same selections on Needle Cut matrices N-1136 and N-1137, were recorded by "Luigi Romanelli and his King Edward Hotel Orchestra", but the diarist had entered "Piccadilly Players" at the top of the session log and had then crossed it out. We are presuming the diarist recognized Edison’s familiar house band in the studio, the Piccadilly Players, and wrote them in, but was told that this recording would be credited to Romanelli and his King Edward Hotel Orchestra and changed the entry. On page 70, the "Studio Cash Book 21" shows for the 18th the two Needle Cut matrices of the same songs, N-1136 and N-1137, and credits "Romanelli" and "Mel Morris Orch". Melville Morris (1888-1987), fine pianist and composer, was the booking agent for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and the Piccadilly Players was a sub-set of the Whiteman Orchestra. Neither Romanelli nor Morris was shown as having been paid anything for the session, but Walter Scanlon received $50.00 and three extra orchestra players received $75.00.

Radio station CKGW’s large broadcasting studio in the King Edward Hotel, used to accommodate and transmit Romanelli’s Orchestra. The authors believe that they have found the location of some of CKGW’s facilities: up the staircase in the north-east corner of the hotel lobby to the mezzanine and then eastward into the hotel’s current office section. What may have been the large radio studio is along the corridor to the left and is currently used as an exercise gymnasium.
(City of Toronto Archives, fonds 393, series 1661, file 5)

Another page, the "Payments to Artists" logger of the Phonograph Division, records the $390.00 payment for the September 18 session and reads "Luigi Romanelli and his King Edward Hotel Orchestra....Mel Morris...mgr". Then, on page 77 of the "Studio Cash Book 21" (entry undated, but listed between September 17 and 20), in a posting for matrices N-1136 and N-1137, the Romanelli sides, the Piccadilly Players received $390.00. It stands to reason that, if "Mel Morris Orch…mgr." and "Piccadilly Players" were inscribed and paid for the Romanelli session, the recordings are of those same Piccadilly Players. The band sounds much "hotter" than the existing recordings of Romanelli’s orchestras, very similar to the sound of the Piccadilly Players, though one can hear Luigi’s distinctive violin. Therefore, we feel safe in concluding that it was Mel Morris’ Piccadilly Players, along with Luigi and his violin, who recorded the Edison sides in 1929.

We were unable to find any reports in the Toronto papers of Luigi crossing the border or going to New York in 1929, nor of his presence noted by the New York Times. In fact, the Mail and Empire showed "Romanelli and his Radio Syncopators" broadcasting on CKGW on September 16, and ran advertisements for Luigi Romanelli’s Orchestra playing in the Summer Garden of the King Edward Hotel every day between September 12 and 20. (all page 2).

Romanelli and his orchestra recorded four 10" sides for RCA Bluebird (B-4698 & B-4699), two fox trots and two marches also categorized as fox trots. Bray and Litchfield (1993) date B-4680 to B-4730 between July 1940 and November 1941 (Barr). It’s a much larger, brassier and more modern dance orchestra than in the earlier recordings. There also exist three radio broadcasts featuring Romanelli’s orchestra. In the two surviving broadcasts from 1939, the orchestra sounds like a very well arranged, typical sax-based dance band of the day.

Romanelli Discography: (all 10" discs)

Cobb-Edwards - I Want You Morning, Noon and Night (FT), HMV 216360-A

Simon-Lyons - Oh! Bobby (We’ll be Happy in Our Home for Two)(FT), HMV 216361-B Romanelli’s Orchestra (Allen Theatre) recorded in Montreal, circa March 1922, released June 1, 1922 re-issued on CAPS CD 001: "Dance Bands from Canada, 1922-1930"

Razaf-Denniker - Perhaps (Fox Trot) (14077 R) Edison Needle Cut electric, matrix N-1136-B-1-1; Edison #80532 Edison Diamond Disc, matrix 19348-B-1-1; Edison #80090 (unreleased)

Porter-Ball-Cohen - Pretending (Fox Trot) (14077 L) Edison Needle Cut electric, matrix N-1137-C-2-3; Edison #80532 Edison Diamond Disc, matrix 19349-B-1-1; Edison #80091 (unreleased) Luigi Romanelli and his King Edward Hotel Orchestra - uncredited vocalist: Walter Scanlon (Walter van Brunt) New York, New York, Wednesday, September 18, 1929

Mawson-Castle - On to Victory (March)(Fox Trot) RCA Bluebird B-4698-A

Arden-Harper-Haynes - One for All (March) (Fox Trot) - vocal refrain by the Four Toppers RCA Bluebird B-4698-B

Malanga-Barry - The Window Washer Man (Rub, Rub, Rub!) (Fox Trot) - vocal refrain by Jimmy Empringham and Teddy Treneer RCA Bluebird B-4699-A

Hammerstein-Kern - Showboat - Make Believe (Fox Trot) - vocal refrain by Burt Austin RCA Bluebird B-4699-B Luigi Romanelli and his Orchestra - recorded circa 1941?

Label of the Edison Needle Cut recording No. 14077 L (matrix N-1137) of "Luigi Romanelli and His King Edward Hotel Orchestra" (actually Luigi with Mel Morris’ Piccadilly Players), recorded electrically in New York, September 18, 1929.
(photo courtesy of the Edison National Historic Site)
One of the seven NBC Reference Recording instantaneous 78 RPM discs of the radio program "In the Manner of the Manoir", broadcast by the CBC from Murray Bay, June 24, 1939 and relayed to NBC. David Lennick found out that this style of NBC label does not date from 1936-39 or 1940-41, but dates from 1942 to 1953. Therefore, it must be a re-dub from the NBC masters.
(disc courtesy BRS)
Label of the RCA Bluebird recording No. B-4698-A, "On To Victory" (March - Fox Trot), the theme song of General Motors, by Luigi Romanelli and His Orchestra, vocal refrain by The Four Toppers, circa 1941.

Surviving Radio Transcriptions:

“A Musical Salute to the Queen Mary”, out of Toronto, May 30, 1936 - part of the NBC Radio Collection

“The Fitch Bandwagon”, broadcast out of Toronto to WEAF, New York, May 14, 1939 (courtesy BRS)

“Music in the Manner of the Manoir”, broadcast out of Murray Bay, Quebec, to CBC, June 24, 1939. The musicians included Vince Boyd (piano), Duncan "Dunc" Snider (drums), Burt Austin (vocals) and Cub Murray. (courtesy BRS)

Pretending (3:07)
Edison Needle Cut electric recording No. 14077-L ((matrix N-1137)
Luigi Romanelli and His King Edward Hotel Orchestra
(actually Luigi with Mel Morris’ Piccadilly Players)
Recorded New York, September 18, 1929
(Listen for Luigi's violin at 0:13, 0:40, 1:13 and 2:18)
And The Angels Sing (2:09)
"The Fitch Bandwagon"
Broadcast out of CBC Toronto to WEAF, New York
Recorded May 14, 1939
NBC Reference Recording instantaneous 78 RPM disc
Luigi Romanelli and His King Edward Hotel Orchestra
Luigi Romanelli Interview (5:03)
"The Fitch Bandwagon"
Broadcast out of CBC Toronto to WEAF, New York
Recorded May 14, 1939
NBC Reference Recording instantaneous 78 RPM disc
Henry M. Neeley - announcer
O Sole Mio / Station Break (0:51)
"Music in the Manner of the Manoir"
Broadcast from the Manoir Richelieu out of Murray Bay, Quebec, to CBC
Recorded June 24, 1939
NBC Reference Recording instantaneous 78 RPM disc
Sing A Song Of Sunbeams (2:27)
"Music in the Manner of the Manoir"
Broadcast from the Manoir Richelieu out of Murray Bay, Quebec, to CBC
Recorded June 24, 1939
NBC Reference Recording instantaneous 78 RPM disc

Coda

Romanelli had one of the best and most important dance bands in Canada and he was known all over the continent from his frequent broadcasts. He was a most versatile musician. Like Whiteman, he could cross the line and play both pop-jazz and classical, but his primary focus was to provide dinner and dance music for a well-to-do conservative crowd at the KEH.

If our conclusions about Luigi Romanelli’s Berliner-HMV discs and our conclusions about Edison’s Needle Cuts are correct, then there may be no authentic examples on record of "Old King Jazz" and his orchestra before the NBC broadcast of 1936 and the two Toronto broadcasts of 1939. By 1939, his band was saxophone- and brass-dominated, like most of the big bands of the day. We may, however, have a clear sample of Luigi’s smooth and sentimental violin playing on the Berliner-HMV recording of "Oh, Bobby" and on the two Edison sides.

This possible want of samples of his early concerted sound is a great pity. Luigi Romanelli had offers to move to England or to the U.S.A., which would have given him an even bigger career and recording opportunities, but he chose to stay based in Toronto.

References:

ALE Ancestry, Library Edition, on-line - Ancestry.com
APN Antique Phonograph News, Canadian Antique Phonograph Society, Toronto
Arpin “John Arpin: Keyboard Virtuoso”, by Robert Popple (Natural Heritage Book, Dundurn Group, Toronto, 2009)
Barr “The Almost Complete78 RPM Record Dating Guide” by Steven C. Barr (2nd edition, private publication, Toronto, 1979)
Batch “Canada’s Finest”, Rogers-Majestic industrial silent film, c. 1932, courtesy Mike Batch of CAPS
BCDT “The Bands Canadians Danced To” by Helen McNamara and Jack Lomas (Griffin House, Toronto, 1973)
Bray and Litchfield “Label Types of Bluebird Records” by Colin J. Bray and Jack Litchfield, APN, Jan.-Feb. 1993, pp. 9-12
BRS Betty (Romanelli) Sanford, personal communications, October 15, 2010 and April 13, 2011
Carnegie Hall   “An Evening with Groucho Marx” at Carnegie Hall, 1972; A&M Records SP 3515
CC Census of Canada
CJM Canadian Journal of Music (ed. by Luigi von Kunits), Vol. 4 #9, p.140, February 1918
Coulter personal communication from June Coulter, Wheatley Area Historical Society, May-June 2008
CWM letter from Erin Foley, Archivist, Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wis., June 11, 2008
Dante del Greco personal communication, November 3, 2007
ET Evening Telegram, Toronto
EMC Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd edition (ed. Kalmann & Potvin; University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1992)
Fitch Fitch Bandwagon, broadcast from Toronto for WEAF, New York, May 14, 1939
G The Globe, Toronto
Goad Goad’s Fire Maps, 1903; City of Toronto Archives
JL personal communication from Jack Litchfield of CAPS
LA London Advertiser, London, Ontario
LFP London Free Press, London, Ontario
LRP personal communication from Lisa Rae Philpott, Music Reference/Collections/ Instructional Librarian, Music Library, University of Western Ontario, London; 2008
Marks “The Canadian Kings of Repertoire: The Story of the Marks Brothers” by Michael V. Taylor
MCTD Might’s City of Toronto Directory
Moogk “Roll Back the Years: History of Canadian Recorded Sound and its Legacy” by Edward B. Moogk (National Library of Canada, Ottawa, 1975, page 260)
Nabes “The Nabes: Toronto’s Wonderful Neighborhood Movie Houses” by John Sebert (Mosaic Press, N.Y., 2001)
NYT New York Times, New York, N.Y.
Pickford “Sunshine and Shadow: An Autobiography” by Mary Pickford (Doubleday and Company, Garden City, N.Y., 1955)
Ringling Museum letter from Jessie Christian, Tibbals Digital Collection Manager, The John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, June 16, 2008
RTD Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 21, 1903, p. 4
Rust “Jazz Records, 1897-1942” by Brian Rust (Storyville Publications and Company, London, 1969)
Shea's advertisement in Shea’s Victoria Theatre program, week of November 10, 1919
Skuce Presentation cartoon by Lou Skuce, possibly late 1930s, courtesy of Betty (Romanelli) Sanford
Solway “Recollections of a Violinist” by Maurice Solway (Mosaic Press, Oakville, Ontario, 1984)
STTJ St. Thomas Times Journal, St. Thomas, Ontario
TBH “The Brothers Hambourg” by Eric Koch (Robin Brass, Toronto, 1997)
TDS Toronto Daily Star
TDSBA Toronto District School Board Archives, McCaul Street
TLTP “They Loved to Play: Memories of the Golden Age in Toronto” by Murray Ginzberg (Eastend Books, Toronto, 1998)
TRL Toronto Reference Library, Yonge Street, Toronto
TSR program of “The Spring Review” at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, April 15, 1932
TSunW Toronto Sunday World
TSW Toronto Star Weekly
TT Tivoli Topics, Vol. 1, No. 1, page 1, Toronto, April 20, 1925
TW Toronto World
USC United States Census
V Variety
Whitfield “Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood” by Eileen Whitfield (Macfarlane Walter & Ross, Toronto, 1997) and Eileen Whitfield, personal communication
WSJ Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Thanks to:

Mrs. Betty (Romanelli) Sanford; Dante del Greco; Joyce Romanelli; Joe Moore, Suffolk; Gerald Fabris, Museum Curator, Edison National Historic Site, West Orange, N.J.; David Lennick, Jack Litchfeld, Mike Batch, Wayne Plunkett and Bill Pratt of CAPS; TDSB Achives; staff of the Baldwin Room, Toronto Reference Library; Eileen Whitfield; Murray Ginzberg; Ringling Museum of Art; Circus World Museum; June Coulter of Wheatley, Ontario; Pat Temple of the Elgin County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society in St. Thomas; Lisa Rae Philpott of the Music Library at University of Western Ontario; staff of Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto; Toronto Symphony Archives; Brian Quinn of the Royal Conservatory of Music; University of Toronto Music Library.