A century ago this month, Joan of Arkansas altered the trajectory of recording history.
That's the title of the 1925 film. The University of Pennsylvania’s Mask and Wig club theatrical group for musical comedies That played an essential part in a technological revolution which dramatically altered the way music was captured and appreciated.
On April 9, 1925, Camden's Victor label released a 78 rpm disc featuring "Joan Of Arkansas — Medley" attributed to the Mask and Wig Glee Chorus. The reverse side contained "Joan of Arkansas — Buenos Aires."
The 10-inch vinyl featuring comedic tunes from a wild Western adventure centered around a female rodeo star—despite its playfully punned title—is said by Mask and Wig archivist Peter Kohn to be something other than a parody of Joan of Arc. the first electrical recording unveiled for use with the recently introduced Western Electric recording system.
What makes that so significant?
Because before Joan of Arkansas, (requiring vocalists to perform acoustically by singing forcefully into a device similar to the cone found on the famous Victor record label featuring Nipper the dog hearing "His Master’s Voice," as the title character was portrayed by a male actor in drag, considering that Mask and Wig was exclusively for males up until merely three years prior)
According to Mark Obert-Thorn, the producer and engineer responsible for curating the new collection, it preferred operatic vocalists and vaudeville performers "capable of projecting their voices all the way to the rear of the venue," he explains. 1925: Milestones from the Early Days of Electrical Recording On the Pristine Classical label, he mentioned that "electrical amplification allowed for a greater variety of recorded frequencies, making the music sound more natural."
Obert-Thorn’s collection features the Mask and Wig compositions penned by Charles Gilpin, along with Victor recordings produced in Camden—then a major hub for the music industry in the U.S. The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by conductor Leopold Stokowski, plays Saint-Saëns’ work. Danse Macabre And Italian baritone Giuseppe De Luca performs Cimarosa’s “Stornello (Son come i chicchi).”
Seducing the listener
Thanks to electrical recording, we gained amplification," says Obert-Thorn, a lifetime resident of Philadelphia currently residing near Detroit, through a Zoom call. "This allowed for singing in softer tones and even whispering.
Actually, the first recordings produced using the updated Western Electric system were made by Art Gillham, nicknamed "The Whispering Pianist," for Columbia Records, which was a competitor of Victor based in New York.
Cutting-edge technology enabled greater nuanced emotional conveyance from singers—from Billie Holiday to Billile Eilish—drawing listeners in instead of overwhelming them.
"It opened the door for crooning and for the more nuanced style of performance exemplified by artists like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra up until now," explains Obert-Thorn. He also noted that this technological advancement significantly impacted classical music. Rather than bringing singers to the recording studios, "this technology could be taken into large auditoriums, used at live events, even utilized outdoors," he stated.
A history of parody
The Joan of Arkansas The recordings originated from the group's 37th show. Mask and Wig was established in 1889 by University of Pennsylvania student Clayton Fotterall McMichael, and it first performed at the Chestnut Street Opera House. Lurline , an adaptation of Henry Byron’s The nymphs of Lurleyburg .
According to Kohn, an attorney and former member of Mask and Wig who resides in Bella Vista, "the establishment of the group was spurred by the fact that the sole theatrical performances available at Penn and Philadelphia back then consisted solely of outdated Greek and Roman tragedies along with Shakespearean plays, leaving no room for comedic content."
McMichael and his co-founders of one of the second oldest undergraduate dramatic clubs in the U.S., which is younger than Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals, aimed to "mix things up" and create parodies of these historical figures and plays, according to Kohn.
The historian displayed Mask and Wig memorabilia at the group's Bavarian-inspired beer hall and hunting-lodge style clubhouse located on Quince Street in Center City. Originally serving as one of the earliest African American Lutheran churches in the country and later used as a dissection room for medical students at Thomas Jefferson Medical College, the structure underwent redesigns beginning in 1894 under the supervision of local architect Wilson Eyre.
Eyre employed young artist Maxfield Parrish to create the Old King Cole mural for the wall behind the club’s Grille Room bar. The paintings featuring caricatures of members continue to decorate the space, alongside numerous suspended beer mugs.
Kohn’s caricature portrays him as Count Calimanco from 1988. Lurline, Again production, is done by a later artist. The original Parrish mural was sold at an auction for $662,000 in 1996.
The proceeds from that payout were utilized to establish an endowment for the group, which plans to present a satire of celebrity and influencer society in their spring 2025 production. One Day A Crime In Hollywood , held its last show at the clubhouse over the weekend.
Mask and Wig was active. The Ed Sullivan Show Four occasions in the 1950s saw compositions penned by group members being recorded by prominent figures from the big band era such as Sinatra, Count Basie, and Rosemary Clooney. The classic song “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” created by former member Bobby Troup, became widely known.
Let them have merch
The Joan of Arkansas The history-making recording primarily occurred due to being in the correct location at the opportune moment. Although the recordings from March 16, 1925, weren’t the initial electrical recordings produced in Camden, they marked the first ones to be published.
A majority of the initial electric recordings at Victor featured orchestras and prominent opera vocalists. However, there was an increasing demand for lighter content such as the comedic burlesques performed by Mask and Wig.
Someone from Mask and Wig surely knew somebody over at Victor," Obert-Thorn muses. "There had to be a connection.
"I believe it simply comes down to how close Philadelphia is to Camden," explains Kohn, "and the widespread appeal that Mask and Wig enjoyed as an entertaining option, truly across the nation." Similar to today, Mask and Wig functioned as a traveling group. They journeyed using their specially marked Mask and Wig railway car, venturing as far west as Chicago.
Other recordings made at Victor in 1925 prior to their March 16 studio session with Mask and Wig were not released until later in the year. However, Joan of Arkansas It was released on April 9, merely three weeks following its recording.
What’s the urgency? According to both Obert-Thorn and Kohn, there are probably two main reasons behind this haste.
Victor aimed to assess the demand for his enhanced sonic tech, hoping to get ahead of rivals such as Columbia and the Chicago-based Brunswick label. Meanwhile, Mask and Wig required an item to promote, which aligned perfectly with their production featuring Edwin R. Cox Jr. as Joan; this performance was praised by the New York Evening Post as "excellent throughout."
The tour began on March 28 in Wilmington and continued until after Penn’s spring break, concluding with a performance on April 4 in New York. Joan of Arkansas The recordings were not prepared for those specific dates, but they would have been completed in time for an Atlantic City performance on April 11, as well as a two-week run at the Forrest Theater starting April 13 on Walnut Street.
Therefore, for that local performance, Mask and Wig could have made their newly created history-making records available for sale during the shows. This business approach still stands strong 100 years later: Mask and Wig performs their fresh tracks live. Once the show concluded, they offered merchandise for sale as well.
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