Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SHEET MUSIC

Date

1923

Materials

PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

30.7

Width

22.9

Description

FOUR PAGE BOOKLET WITH ORANGE AND BLACK COVER. COVER HAS BACKGROUND PICTURING GRAIN AT LEFT AND MAN PICKING COTTON UNDER THE SUN ON RIGHT. ACROSS VERY TOP OF COVER IS "1,000,000 COPY EDITION WITH 24 NEW VERSES" WITH TITLE IN ORANGE BENEATH IT WHICH READS "IT AIN'T GONNA RAIN NO MO' BY WENDELL HALL". AT MIDDLE IS RECTANGULAR PHOTO OF "WENDELL HALL EXCLUSIVE VICTOR RECORD ARTIST" WHO IS HOLDING GUITAR. BENEATH PHOTO IS "AS SUNG BY THE NATIONAL RADIO FAVORITE - THE COMPOSER ON VICTOR RECORDS". AT BOTTOM MIDDLE IS LOGO WHICH READS "FORESTER MUSIC PUBLISHER INC. 235 SOUTH WABASH AVE. CHICAGO". AT BOTTOM LEFT IS "MADE IN U.S.A.". ON INSIDE OF FIRST THREE PAGES IS MUSIC WITH 48 VERSES. AT BOTTOM OF FIRST PAGE OF MUSIC IS "COPYRIGHT MCMXXIII BY WENDELL WOODS HALL MADE IN CHICAGO" AND "COPYRIGHT TRANSFERRED MCMXXIII TO FORESTER MUSIC PUB. INC., CHICAGO, ILL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED". ON FINAL TWO PAGES AND BACK COVER ARE SAMPLES OF MORE MUSIC SOLD BY PUBLISHERS. TOP OF FRONT COVER HAS SMALL TEAR AS WELL AS ALONG BOTTOM OF SPINE.

Subjects

DOCUMENTARY ARTIFACT

MUSICAL T&E

Historical Association

LEISURE

History

ARTIFACT WAS DISCOVERED IN CONSERVATION LAB WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION OR OTHER ASSOCIATIONS. IT HAS BEEN ACCEPTED INTO PERMANENT COLLECTION BY ACCESSION COMMITTEE WITHOUT HISTORY. *UPDATE* IN 2015 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT. SHE NOTED THAT OF THE 21 BOOKS/SHEET MUSIC THAT WERE ACQUIRED IN 1996 WITH UNKNOWN ASSOCIATIONS OR DONORS, FIVE HAD THE NAME "ESTHER SPONHOLZ" WRITTEN IN PENCIL ON THEIR COVERS. SEARCHING FOR THAT NAME IN THE DIGITIZED LETHBRIDGE HERALD LED TO THE OBITUARIES OF ESTHER GROSE (NEE SPONHOLZ), HER BROTHER EARL, AND HER HUSBAND HARRY. GIVEN THAT ALL 21 OF THE MUSIC BOOKS WERE ACQUIRED AT THE SAME TIME AND ARE OF SIMILAR VINTAGE, IT IS LIKELY THAT THEY ALL BELONGED TO ESTHER SPONHOLZ PRIOR TO HER MARRIAGE TO HARRY GROSE IN 1937. IT REMAINS UNKNOWN HOW THE BOOKS ARRIVED AT THE GALT MUSEUM, AND WHO DONATED THEM. THE FOLLOWING BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ESTHER SPONHOLZ GROSE WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED OBITUARIES. ESTHER DOROTHY SPONHOLZ WAS BORN IN 1917 NEAR MEDICINE HAT AND GREW UP IN THE AREA. SHE MET HARRY JAMES GROSE IN CALGARY AND THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1937. THEY LIVED IN MEDICINE HAT UNTIL 1949, WHEN THEY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE, WHERE HARRY WAS A PARTNER IN NORRIE AND FAWCETT FARM EQUIPMENT. ESTHER WAS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AND AN ACCOMPLISHED PIANIST. WHEN HARRY DIED IN 1990, ESTHER MOVED TO CALGARY TO BE NEAR THEIR SON GLEN. ESTHER GROSE DIED ON JANUARY 10, 1996. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF OBITUARIES.

Catalogue Number

P19960000020

Acquisition Date

1996-01

Collection

Museum

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