Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 6, No. 3 (1931-12)

An independent journal of phonography and other arts of sound reproduction The Phonograph Nionthly Review AXEL B. JOHNSON, Managing Editor The Phonograph Publishing Co., Inc., 69 Marion St., Medford, Mass. Tel. Mystic 0882 THE PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY REVIEW appears at the end of each month. All material is fully protected, but may be reproduced under a credit line. Yearly subscription price #3.00 in the United States and #4.00 in Canada and other foreign countries, postage prepaid. Single copies 25 cents. All communications should be addressed to the Managing Editor, 69 Marion St., Medford, Mass. All unsolicited contributions must be accompanied by a. self-addressed, stamped envelope. All checks and money orders should be made out to THE PHONOGRAPH JPUQLISHING CO., Inc. Jferoj (Elmatmaii by REVEREND HERBERT BOYCE SATCHER H GAIN the approach of the Christmas season bids us to be merry. For months the world has been floundering in a morass of uncertainty and gloom, until it seems as if the nadir must have been reached. Men’s hearts have been seized and wrung and twisted by the demon—Fear. The old anchorages, the old comfortable security, appear to have vanished. Under these conditions it would seem to be difficult to be merry. But while these conditions are lamentable and must cause great searchings of heart in many places, we cannot allow them to overwhelm us. So whatever be the case we must make merry at the anniversary of the Christ-Child’s birth. When that event took place and the Christian era wasl ushered in, the world seemed so very old, decadence was everywhere so evident, religious loyalties were so completely disregarded, that the end of everything appear to be imminent. But men said afterwards that angels sang a song of peace and good-will to simple shepherds watching their flocks on a far Eastern hillside the night a lowly Child was born in a stable at Bethlehem. Simple people, far from the sophisticated glamour of weary world centers rejoiced. Almost two thousand years have passed, and again the world is weary. The religion of Love initi- ated by that Child at whose birth angels sang has spread itself over the world and has evolved a highly intricate and complex organization to enshrine its principles. But time, too, has come for us to realize that in everything we must hark back to simplicity. Two thousand years ago when the world was old and weary of complexity, it seemed there was nothing more to be discovered or found out, but we now know that there was then only a comparatively small area of the earth’s surface, for instance, known to those jaded world-citizens. Today, when the world is again weary, most of the surface of the globe has been explored and charted, but worlds of wonder in the domain of science and spirit await the magic key which will unlock the door of these gardens of mystery. Already the science of acoustics combined with electricity has penetrated that domain and has given us the recording and reproduction of masterpieces with which to make merry at Christmas. So far we have only skimmed the surface of possibilities in this direction. This Christmas, while awaiting the further development of these possibili- ties, the PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY REVIEW family has added cause for rejoicing in the return of the beloved founder and editor, and so we say—MERRY CHRISTMAS 1