Stars and Stripes Forever; The Fairest of the Fair: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Sousa Band. Side 1: Stars and Stripes Forever; side 2 The Fairest of the Fair (Victor 20132). 78 rpm.

This is a special pressing from the original recording. The original recording is listed as destroyed in the Victor ledgers. It was part of a 12-record set in a red album labeled Contemporary Victor Records. The record was inteded for use with a Victrola “Credenza” 8-30 model. The set was compiled for the Research Library of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D. C. by RCA Victor, May 27th, 1957.

The records in this album were selected to demonstrate, in connection with Victrola models V-II, VV-XI and 8-30, the progressive development of recorded music prior to 1926. The three selections in this grouping (Stars and Stripes Forever) were spaced to correspond with instrument developments. They provide an unusual opportunity to hear a given selection -- recorded by the same organization -- on a contemporary instrument -- with extreme factors like selection appeal and radically different instrumentation eliminated.

"Stars & Stripes Forever" by Sousa provides an exceptional opportunity for comparative test. Over the years this selection was recorded 14 times by Sousa for Victor.

Materials, dates and provenance

• recording date: 1926
• associated person: Sousa, John Philip
• manufacturer: Victor
• Object Name: sound recording
• Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in; 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: New Jersey, Camden
• ID Number: 1985.0613.077
• accession number: 1985.0613
• maker number: 20132
• catalog number: 1985.0613.077
• 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.