Sally Emery Hamlin (December 23, 1902 - July 4, 1987) was an American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

, pianist, and recording artist.

Biography

She was the daughter of Dr. Cyrus E. Hamlin and Hattie Bennion; also the great-granddaughter of former U.S. Vice President

Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican ...

. She is a shadowy figure today, and would probably be completely forgotten were it not for a series of 78rpm

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

recordings she made for children in the 1910s and 1920s. Sally recorded primarily for the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

, but also recorded a few 7" discs for

Emerson Records Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor Emerson in 1915. Victor Hugo Emerson was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then ...

and at least one disc for Aeolian Vocalion. These records were readings of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

by such authors as

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

and

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

, classic stories such as

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

and

Rumpelstilskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; german: Rumpelstilzchen) is a German fairy tale. It was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about a little imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a ...

, and even excerpts from

Pollyanna ''Pollyanna'' is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter's soon writing a sequel, ''Pollyanna Grows Up'' (1915). Eleven more ''Pollyanna'' sequels, know ...

Eleanor H. Porter Eleanor Emily Hodgman Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was an American novelist, most known for ''Pollyanna'' (1913) and ''Just David'' (1916). Biography Eleanor Emily Hodgman was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, on December 19, 1 ...

. Sally also recorded piano rolls for

Duo-Art Duo-Art was one of the leading reproducing piano technologies of the early 20th century, the others being American Piano Company (Ampico), introduced in 1913 too, and Welte-Mignon in 1905. These technologies flourished at that time because of th ...

and a piano solo "The Butterfly", for Victor, which was never issued. Sally Hamlin was fifteen years old when she signed a one year contract with Victor on April 12, 1917 and made the trip from her home at 7 Woodruff Avenue, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Victor's recording studios in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. During this period, her most popular records were made. Sally delivered

's dialect poems "The Raggedy Man" and "Our Hired Girl" with natural girlish charm and they were instant successes. Her recordings of

's "

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" is a popular poem for children written by American writer and poet Eugene Field and published on March 9, 1889. The original title was "Dutch Lullaby". The poem is a fantasy bed-time story about three children sailing a ...

" and "The Sugar Plum Tree" are notable for Sally's use of

sprechstimme (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which p ...

, particularly in the final stanzas which are accompanied by

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist Francis J. Lapitino. This dreamy half spoken, half sung performance is one of the earliest examples of

in a commercial recording. On June 25, 1925http://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=James+T&gsln=Denton&msbdy=1889&msbpn__ftp=England&msbpn=3251&msbpn_PInfo=3-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c&msrpn__ftp=Brooklyn%2c+Kings%2c+New+York%2c+USA&msrpn=10855&msrpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3244%7c35%7c1652382%7c1610%7c10855%7c0%7c&msgdy=1925&msgpn__ftp=New+York%2c+USA&msgpn=35&msgpn_PInfo=5-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3244%7c35%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c&uidh=dw5&msbdd=31&msbdm=10&_83004003-n_xcl=f&mssng0=Sally&pcat=34&h=3099129&recoff=8+9+10+29&db=NYCmarriageindexes&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Reference ID: 17444 , GS Film Number: 1643407 Sally married James Tinker Denton, a widower, in Manhattan. Sally became a step mother to Arthur Shaw Denton, James Thomas Denton and Florence Ann Denton. Sally and James T. had a child of their own Martha Louise Denton who was born in January of 1927. James T. passed away 15 October 1950 in New York State. On November 1, 1926, Sally Hamlin signed another contract with Victor, this one for a two-year period. While her earlier recordings had been made by the acoustic recording process, this group was recorded using the new electrical process, introduced in early 1925. Victor had her re-record some of her previous readings utilizing the new electrical process, and recorded some new titles such as "The Little Kitten That Would Not Wash Its Face" and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...

. Among this group is her record of "

The Night Before Christmas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

" and " The Shoemaker And The Elves". This record contains perhaps the first instance of sampling in a commercial recording. Sally's recordings of these two famous

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

pieces contain musical fade-ins from other records in Victor's catalog (among them,

Elsie Baker Elsie Baker (July 13, 1883 – August 16, 1971) was an American actress. Her career spanned the gamut from vaudeville through silent movies to radio to Hollywood and television. She has sometimes been confused with the American contralto El ...

's record of "

Silent Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...

"). Although it was surely done as a cost-cutting measure, being cheaper than hiring an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

or a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, it nevertheless is sampling by definition. None of Sally Hamlin's work has ever been officially reissued commercially on LP or

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

. Later in life, Sally Hamlin married Karl M. Chworowsky, a minister of the Unitarian Church. They were both accomplished pianists who gave recitals together. She outlived him by 23 years, passing away at the age of 84 in

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

. She is buried in the Hamlin family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

Discography

*''Abou Ben Adhem/The Arrow And The Song'' (Victor 21823-B; 1929) *''Butterfly, The'' (piano solo, unreleased; 1918) *''Cinderella, Parts I and II'' (Victor 21697; 1928) *''Cinderella/Jack and the Beanstalk'' (Victor 35664; 1917) *''Duel, The/Three Bears'' (Emerson 7116; 1917) *''Envy'' (unreleased; 1917) *''Hansel and Gretel, Parts I and II'' (unreleased; 1917) *''It Can't Be Done'' (unreleased; 1917) *''Jabberwocky/The Walrus And The Carpenter'' (Victor 21826; 1929) *''Jack and the Beanstalk, Parts I and II'' (Victor 21696; 1928) *''Little Dog That Would Not Wag Its Tail, Parts I and II'' (Victor 21699; 1928) *''Little Engine That Could/Dear Little Hen'' (Victor 21824; 1929) *''Little Kitten That Would Not Wash Its Face, Parts I and II'' (Victor 21698; 1928) *''Little Orphant Annie/Seein' Things At Night'' (Victor 18381; 1917) *''Mother Goose Medley/Rumpelstilskin'' (Emerson 7125; 1917) *''Night Before Christmas/Shoemaker and the Elves'' (Aeolian Vocalion 12058; 1919) *''Night Before Christmas/Shoemaker and the Elves'' (Victor 35939; 1928) *''Night Wind, The'' (unreleased; 1918) *''Old Woman And Her Pig'' (unreleased; 1928) *''Pollyanna and The Boy/Pollyanna Arrives'' (Victor 35652; 1917) *''Raggedy Man/Winkin,(sic) Blynken & Nod'' (Emerson 794; 1916) *''Rumpelstilskin, Parts I and II'' (Victor 20341; 1926) *''Teeny Tiny'' (unreleased; 1928) *''Three Little Kittens/There Was An Old Man/One Misty Moisty Morning'' (unreleased; 1917) *''The Three Little Pigs/The Duel'' (Victor 18685; 1920) *''Raggedy Man/Our Hired Girl'' (Victor 18276; 1917) (Victor 20339; 1926) *''Wynken, Blynken, and Nod/Sugar Plum Tree'' (Victor 18599; 1919) (Victor 20340; 1926) *''Year's At The Spring/What Is So Rare As A Day In June'' (Victor 21823; 1929)

References

Sources

*Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide by Stephen C. Barr; Yesterday Once Again, 1992 *Letter from Ann McDonald, librarian, Hamlin Memorial Library dated Aug. 12, 1999 *Letter from Bernadette Moore, Archivist, BMG Music dated May 12, 1989 *Letter from Morton J. Savada, Records Revisited, NYC dated June 21, 1989 *Life And Times of Hannibal Hamlin by Charles Eugene Hamlin; Cambridge/Riverside Press 1899 *Rev. Chworowsky Resigns Unitarian Ministry Bridgeport Connecticut Sunday Herald, May 4, 1958 *Victor Records Catalogs 1917-1922 *Victor Records October 1917 supplement (photo) *Victor Talking Machine Company Recording Logs 1917-1928 *Victrola In Rural Schools; Educational Department, Victor Talking Machine Co. 1921 Edition.

External links

Downloadable Sally Hamlin audio from Archive.orgWFMU Antique Phonograph Music Program featuring Sally
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlin, Sally 1902 births 1987 deaths American child actresses American film actresses American silent film actresses American spoken word artists Actresses from Brooklyn 20th-century American actresses