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The Cable Company

1915 “The One Hundred and One Best Songs” – Cable Company Chicago

1915 “The One Hundred and One Best Songs” – Cable Company Chicago

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$15.00 USD
$15.00 USD
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AT A GLANCE

Title:
The One Hundred and One Best Songs
Publisher:
The Cable Company
Subject:
Pre-World War I music culture
Performance medium:
Piano & voice
Era:
Victorian Edwardian Song Culture (1870–1915)
Date:
1915 (15th and 17th editions)
Origin:
Chicago, Illinois
Material:
Paper
Dimensions:
5 ¾” x 8 ½”
Condition:
Good-fair (G-F)
Ephemera:
Songbook
Cover:
Staple‑bound softcover
Pages:
114
OCLC:
52005990
Book genre:
Sheet Music | Songbooks
Notes:
Fragile paper

 A Turn-of-the-Century Community Songbook – 1915 Fifteenth & Seventeenth Editions

Collector’s Note

Early 20th-century community songbooks like this were central to American home life before radio became widespread. Issued by piano manufacturers as promotional volumes, they encouraged families and churches to gather around the instrument for shared music-making.

The songbook represents a tangible piece of pre-World War I musical culture — appealing to collectors of ragtime-era ephemera, early American hymnals, and turn-of-the-century parlor music.

The Cable Company, piano makers of Chicago issued the 1915 The One Hundred and One Best Songs as a promotional and community-use volume. Measuring just 5 ¾” by 8 ½”, the 114-page book was designed for group singing and easy portability.

The sepia-toned front cover features a charming domestic parlor scene: a family gathered around the upright piano while a formally dressed gentleman stands nearby, evoking the Edwardian-era tradition of evening music in the home. The illustration is printed in warm brown ink on tan paper stock, typical of early 20th-century trade songbooks.

The contents reflect over one hundred familiar selections--a blend of patriotic standards, religious hymns, parlor favorites, and college songs — the backbone of communal singing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Songs include “Onward Christian Soldiers, “Good Night Ladies," “Yankee Doodle,” “Old Black Joe," “America” (My Country, ’Tis of Thee), “Auld Lang Syne," and "Rock of Ages."

    Sold each, the fifteenth and seventh editions are available. Both issues have foxing consistent with age should be handled gently and are best suited for display or archival collecting rather than active use. 

    • Fifteenth Edition: Condition is fair. Antique paper brittle and fragile; spine loose and the final pages (page 107 onward) are detached; front torn corner. 
    • Seventeenth Edition: Condition is good to fair. Antique paper fragile; pages remain attached to spine.

    Just a quick heads‑up: the photos reveal details far better than text alone, so they’re worth a close review.

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