emerson

This is William Robinow (1894?-1996) [i.e. William Robyn] (pronounced ROW-BINE), birth name (in Latvia) William Rubin, also known as Willie Robyn and toured at the time of his first auditions (trials) with Victor and Emerson in 1918 as Wolf Scarpioff. [1] Robyn was a tenor singer who toured the vaudeville circuit and made hundreds of recordings. He recorded first for Emerson, but then for Columbia, Pathe, Okeh, Brunswick, Victor and approximately 50 other labels. [2] [3] Willie Robyn A Recording Artist in the 1920s A lengthy (and fascinating) interview taped with William Robyn by Tim Brooks in 1977 when Robyn was 80 years of age. www.timbrooks.net/PDFs/robyn1.pdf Two recordings of William Robinow [i.e., William Robyn] are available in the National Jukebox at The Library of Congress. Robyn used more than fifty pseudonyms while he was performing in vaudeville and recording between 1919 and 1931: [3] SUBJ AUTH Robyn, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Bennett, Bert, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Brown, Tom, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Conroy, Frank, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Conroy, Fred, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Crane, Thornely, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Ender, Jack, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Foster, Al, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Franklin, Fred, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Gravelle, Buddy, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Hamilton, Edward, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Hamilton, Ray, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Mack, Bobby, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Manning, John, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Norton, Walter, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Powell, Ray, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Powell, Roy, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Ray, Walter, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Robinow, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Robinson, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Robyn, Willie, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Ruban, George, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Rubin, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Rubinoff, Mario, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Rubinoff, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Scarpioff, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Scarpioff, Wolf, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Scott, Henry, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Shaw, Eddie, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Smith, Harry, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Spear, John, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Stanley, William, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Waters, Frankie, 1894-1996 SUBJ S FRM Wee Willie, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Allison, James, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Bolton, Jamie, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Clarke, Walter, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Forsythe, Reg, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Francis, William, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Hart, Charles, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Henderson, Larry, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Henry, Lawrence, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Hillman, Bob, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Johnson, Al, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Lee, Albert, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM O’Shea, Allen, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM O’Shea, John, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Playman, Edmund, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Remick, Walter, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Richards, Edgar, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Richards, Walter, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Rickman, Eddie, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Roberts, Billy, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Roberts, Lewis, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Robin, Wyllie, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Thomas, Brian, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Turner, Ray, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Weston, Les, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM White, Jerry, 1894-1996. SUBJ S FRM Young, Louis, 1894-1996. This photograph appears on page 54 of Willie Robyn • A Recording Artist in the 1920s and is captioned "William Robyn: A New Victor Artist, 1920" with an additional note "Robyn appears in a Victor supplement, November, 1920." [4] -- which would match the writing at the top of the negative "Victor Nov '20".

This is apparently an Emerson Farm Tractor. Here is an illustration from a 1916 publication: books.google.com/books?id=DWo4AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA96&am...

NYT of February 18, 1918 query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05E5DD113FE433A... announced that the American Red Cross would be establishing a school for crippled soldiers on a 500-acre farm near Tours France. Date scribbled on negative is 5/17/18

Thanks swanq for catching the date and possible location. It does seem likely this is the American Red Cross school farm in France. We will add more details when we update.

Heavy duty tractor!

Another picture, probably taken at same time, is here

When one can appreciate the wood tones and grain from a photo...I'll say it is an excellent image!! Ricky