On a Cold Winter Night; John Henry Was a Little Boy: Museum Object and Cultural History

On a Cold Winter Night; John Henry Was a Little Boy: recording date: 1936. recording artist: J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers. retailer: Montgomery Ward.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team•Updated September 30, 2026•2 min read•✓ Fact-checked

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The object in the museum catalogue

[J .E.] Mainer's Mountaineers. side 1: On a Cold Winter Night; side 2: John Henry Was a Little Boy (Montgomery Ward M-7008). 78 rpm. This coupling was initially released on Bluebird B-6629.

Materials, dates and provenance

recording date: 1936
recording artist: J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers
retailer: Montgomery Ward
Object Name: sound recording
Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 10 in; x 25.4 cm
place made: United States
ID Number: 1996.0320.20354
accession number: 1996.0320
catalog number: 1996.0320.20354
label number: M-7008
Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.