The Woolworths Museum

A century-old Christmas Card from the Woolworth's Five-and-Ten

 

'Hail the blest morn'

and 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' on Little Wonder 912

 

Little Wonder gramophone records brought recorded music to North American dimestore customers. They were introduced during World War I and continued to sell well into the 1920sThe reverse side of Little Wonder records were blank (unlike their more expensive rivals) save occasionally for the supplying store's sticker like in this case the Woolworth store in Toronto Canada

Little Wonder records caused a sensation in North American 5 & 10¢ stores between 1915 and 1923.

They were single-sided and ran for just over a minute. Because of their small size they were made to play at 80rpm. The first discs were 5" in diameter, which later increased to 5½". Each was sold without a sleeve for 10¢.

Many Little Wonders were given as stocking-fillers. This simple recording evokes memories of a family's Chrismas Morning almost a century ago, as a loved one awoke 3,000 miles away in the trenches, little knowing that for one day they were about to swap their mortars and machine guns for a simple soccer ball.

 

 

 

 

If you prefer, or can't play HTML5 audio on-line, you are welcome to save the melody for later with our compliments.

Simply choose your preferred format from the list below by right clicking it and choosing 'save target as..' to download it.

AAC

MP3

Vorbis

WAV

 

 

 

 

Shortcuts to related content in the Woolworths Museum

 

1920s Gallery

 

1920s Records Page

 

Little Wonder

 

Mimosa

 

Little Marvel

 

Victory

 

Museum Home Page