My father sent me the most amazing picture, and I cannot at all believe that it exists. It is very similar to the Columbia exhibition picture:
Now what is it exactly? Well, here you go:
I was speechless.
(I wonder who that is... It's pretty late as I'm writing this, so I'll save guesses for tomorrow)
I don't think much needs to be said about this picture. I must point out though that you can actually see much more than you think at first glance. You can pretty much see EVERYTHING in their exhibition hall. I mean it! The piano, the flags, the electric lights, the white rack, the COLUMBIA PHONOGRAPH COMPANY printed in huge font at the top of the back wall, all the phonographs, the brass bars, some chairs, and even the stairs that go to the recording rooms upstairs! I cannot get over how amazing this is! From this picture, you can even tell where the photographer stood to take the exhibition picture! Just in case you can't really tell, that photographer stood to the right(according to the picture just above) more to the corner of the building. In this picture, the piano that Hylands was sitting at is facing slightly left, but the keyboard is facing toward the camera, unlike in the exhibition picture.
One thing I just noticed, the stairs that are visible in the picture just above are actually visible in the exhibition picture! See it? I can't see the twig-like railing, but I can see the bottom of them. The pretty scaffolding that can be seen all over the ceilings of the exhibition picture is also slightly visible in the picture just above, with the electric lights seemingly growing out of the walls in even spacing.
Hmm. After taking at least thirty individual looks at this picture just above, I seem to understand the setup for the exhibitions a lot more. Why? Well, imagine yourself where that single man is standing, and entering into that madness of the exhibition picture, what would you see across the street? The back of a fat piano man from afar, sitting at least five feet above the crowd, and a crowd of hundreds, of all people, men, women, children. You'd also be able to hear the cries of a leather-lunged speaker, hollering at the top of his lungs the words of how these great people on this platform will play for you all to-night, for the cost of merely fifteen cents. This building would be the brightest thing on Broadway for miles, and surely full of mirth and vigor. It's also the loudest thing for miles on Broadway, louder than all the street cars and braying horses. I wish they took a picture of the whole front of the building, so we could see those weird windows that we can see the back end of in this picture:
Now that this picture paints a clear image of the Columbia 27th and Broadway headquarters, we now have a very clear understanding as to what these elaborate and lavish exhibitions truly looked like. The rest is all yours to imagine.
*share this amazing picture with your record friends! It needs to be spread around because of how historic it is! Columbia pictures are exceedingly rare to find anywhere! Also, it's not a studio picture either, it's showing the even more unusual sight of the exhibition hall.*
One thing I just noticed, the stairs that are visible in the picture just above are actually visible in the exhibition picture! See it? I can't see the twig-like railing, but I can see the bottom of them. The pretty scaffolding that can be seen all over the ceilings of the exhibition picture is also slightly visible in the picture just above, with the electric lights seemingly growing out of the walls in even spacing.
Hmm. After taking at least thirty individual looks at this picture just above, I seem to understand the setup for the exhibitions a lot more. Why? Well, imagine yourself where that single man is standing, and entering into that madness of the exhibition picture, what would you see across the street? The back of a fat piano man from afar, sitting at least five feet above the crowd, and a crowd of hundreds, of all people, men, women, children. You'd also be able to hear the cries of a leather-lunged speaker, hollering at the top of his lungs the words of how these great people on this platform will play for you all to-night, for the cost of merely fifteen cents. This building would be the brightest thing on Broadway for miles, and surely full of mirth and vigor. It's also the loudest thing for miles on Broadway, louder than all the street cars and braying horses. I wish they took a picture of the whole front of the building, so we could see those weird windows that we can see the back end of in this picture:
*share this amazing picture with your record friends! It needs to be spread around because of how historic it is! Columbia pictures are exceedingly rare to find anywhere! Also, it's not a studio picture either, it's showing the even more unusual sight of the exhibition hall.*
I hope you enjoyed this!
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