Only a Step To the Grave; If I Could Only Blot Out the Past: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Rand and Foster. side 1: Only a Step To the Grave; side 2: If I Could Only Blot Out the Past (Supertone 9373) 78 rpm. Side 1 was recorded in 1928 and initially released on Gennett 6778. Side 2 was recorded in 1928 and initially released on Gennett 6704.

Rand and Foster is a pseudonym on Supertone 9373 for Kirk McGee and Blythe Poteet.

Supertone Records was a record label sold by the Sears-Roebuck Company in their stores and through mail-order. The first pressings of Supertone were made by the Fletcher Record Company and then Bridgeport Die and Machine Company in 1924. Within a year, Sears discontinued the label. Supertone was produced by Straus and Schram from 1925 to 1928 after Sears failed to register the Supertone brand name. In 1928, Sears regained the brand name and sold records produced by Gennett records until 1930. The Brunswick Radio Corporation produced the last of the Supertone records through 1931.

Materials, dates and provenance

• recording date: 1928
• recording artist: Rand and Foster
• manufacturer: Supertone
• Object Name: sound recording
• Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in; x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: 1996.0320.23443
• catalog number: 1996.0320.23443
• maker number: 9373
• collector/donor number: 12098
• accession number: 1996.0320
• 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.