Tag: RCA Victor
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Reminiscing at 582 Auburn Street
I was born in Parkside in 1933, and lived there until 1944. I was 11 years old, when our rented house at 1039 Princess Ave., and hundreds of others citywide, were sold to accommodate the workers who poured into Camden for war-related jobs at the N.Y. Ship Yard, RCA, and other defense-connected companies. My parents…
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William H. Heiser
William H. Heiser, born around 1884 in Virginia, entered matrimony with the former Carrie Van Saun circa 1905. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Heiser family resided at 633 Linden Street in Camden’s historic Second Ward. William Heiser pursued a career as an accountant with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The 1930 Census recorded William, Carrie, and…
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Jesthroe Hunt
Jesthroe Hunt’s life story is deeply intertwined with the history of Camden, New Jersey, and serves as a testament to the city’s cultural and societal evolution throughout the 20th century. Born on August 3, 1920, in Conway, South Carolina, to Benjamin and Ella Hunt, Jesthroe Hunt moved with his family to Camden in the late…
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Otto E. Braun
Otto E. Braun, born around 1891 to Francis X. and Mrs. Braun, was part of a family that had its roots in Camden. His father, Francis X. Braun, a German-born tailor, had established his business in various locations, including 562 Auburn Street and later 124 Market Street, according to city directories from 1889-1891. Serving executives…
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Remembering Camden – Hotel Walt Whitman
A collection of remembrances by Catherine Casselman Greenhart, Camden High School Class of 1942. You have a picture of the H. Genet Taylor residence on Cooper Street. I was friendly with both “Tottie”and Harry III and we were in and out of each other’s houses. My house was 301 North Second Street which would be…
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Work and Growth
For Warren Webster and his Organization, the “Gay 90’s” were years of hard work and growth. Said my father: “I did most of the selling out in the field from 1888 to 1912 or 1914. And how I loved it! I used to take all the problems and trouble which arose and work them out…
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City Industry – Tracking History
By Thomas A. Bergbauer, Retired Courier-Post Editor Just 100 years ago Camden was a thriving, prosperous industrial metropolis and the future looked bright for this river city. At the end of the 19th century and in the first couple decades of the 20th century, industry in Camden came alive and at that time most of…
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Old Cooper Street
Reprinted from the series of stories of Camden’s earlier days, under the title Sixty Years in Camden County – Gosh! by Will Paul, appearing in The Community news, of Merchantville, NJ. In an earlier chapter I suggested that a young writer seeking a subject for a story could take any Camden street that leads to…
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Victor Mixed Chorus at Trinity Studios
A newly unearthed negative from the Victor vaults shows Rosario Bourdon conducting members of the Victor studio band billed as ‘Victor Mixed Chorus’ & Orchestra at Victor’s ‘Trinity Studios’ in Camden, New Jersey. It is significant in that not too many photos exist of this facility, despite it being recognized as one of the finer…
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George Genge School
The first school house known to have been erected within the present city limits of Camden appears to have been the one-story, red brick Camden Academy, built at 6th and Market Streets in 1804, on land donated by Jacob Cooper back in 1776. The delay in construction was a result of the economic and political…
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A Brief History of the City of Camden
Incorporated in 1828, the progress and possibilities of Camden have far exceeded the expectations of the Founders and Incorporators. The year 1928 witnessed the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Camden as a city. But, the early history of the community dates back to 1631. Camden ante-dates her big neighbor across…
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VICTOR TALKING MACHINE HISTORY IS REAL BUSINESS ROMANCE
Company’s Growth from Tiny Shop in 1898 to Mammoth Plant Employing Thousands, has Placed Camden in Front Rank as Industrial City. No CITY in the United States is better known for its manufactured products than Camden. The great industries which have played leading parts in its development and growth have also carried its fame into…
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Camden NJ and the Beginnings of Country Music
On November 30, 1927, Jimmie Rodgers arrived in Camden to cut his first professionally recorded records. Three months earlier Ralph Peer, a talent scout for Camden’s Victor Records had traveled south to Bristol VA/TN, seeking some new talent for Victor. Rodgers was the first to be invited back to Camden to record. The Carter Family…
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Hotel Walt Whitman
The Walt Whitman Hotel was a venture championed by the Greater Camden Movement, a coalition of business and civic leaders that began to coalesce shortly before and during World War I. They had proven highly effective in raising county-wide funds to support the American war effort. Post-war, their ambitious vision to invigorate economic recovery and…