victortalkingmachinecompany

Mabel Garrison (1886-1963) was a popular coloratura soprano.  "She made her Metropolitan Opera debut on February 15, 1914 in concert, singing arias from operas by Verdi and Mozart." [1] The cover of the catalog she is holding is "New Victor Records • November, 1918" which may provide further clues as to why these photos were in the news at this time..... she made several recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company.  Mabel Garrison performed in "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Le Coq d'Or" at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918 as well as the "Twelfth Sunday Concert", "Nineteenth Sunday Concert" and a "Special Performance". [2]   A number of these recordings are available on You Tube in excellent quality. There are several photographs of Mabel Garrison in The Bain Collection.

American singer/songwriter Vernon Dalhart, see

Thanks Art Siegel. We will update the description.

Alfred A. "Al" Bernard (1888-1949) was an American vaudeville singer, known as "The Boy From Dixie", who was most popular during the 1910s through early 1930s. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bernard became a blackface singer in minstrel shows before starting his recording career around 1916.   Bernard composed and recorded more than 100 songs in the first three decades of the 20th century.   He was one of the first white singers to record blues songs.   W. C. Handy credited Bernard with helping his own career by recording a number of his songs, notably "St. Louis Blues".  Bernard recorded the song for nine different record labels, the most successful being what Handy called "the sensational Victor recording in which he sang with the Dixieland Jazz Band". For a brief period in the early 20's Bernard was teamed with Jimmy Durante and wrote the lyrics for "Papa String Bean" for Durante.  He teamed up with the ragtime composer J. Russell Robinson in a vaudeville team called the Dixie Stars and they recorded songs together for a number of famous labels.  Bernard usually sang while Robinson played the piano and added some vocals. Together they composed a number of hit songs including "Blue Eyed Sally" and "Let Me Be The First To Kiss You Good Morning".   Excerpted – [1] [2]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Bernard

Thank you both for the information, we'll add it to our records.