"Whispering" by Sam Ash - Emerson 78rpm 10300, 1921

Might as well release these sentimental tunes given the Hallmark-holiday! Samuel Howard Ash (1884-1951 - not the music store namesake) made a decent recording career in the 1910s and 1920s before becoming an actor doing bit parts and musical numbers in Hollywood. His sentimental-song repertoire was huge, and this 1920 hit by John & Malvin Schonberger [with later copyright renewals adding Vincent Rose and Richard Coburn] was one of many under his belt, recorded on Emerson matrix 41532. As far as Emerson was concerned, their attempts at becoming a major player in the recorded-music market had completely imploded with the post-WWI economic crash. Everything was outsourced and financed on credit, and the company went into receivership in 1921. Unfortunate, too, since they had a decent lateral recording process and neat "artist-approved" marketing scheme. In mid-1920 they had adopted this version of a famous logo that would appear on electronics until 2006...partly because the terms of receivership split the record label and phonograph manufacturing entities, so the manufacturing facility began producing radio-phonograph combinations ca. 1924, and the record label was sold to its pressing plant, Scranton Button Co. Scranton discontinued the label in 1928, and the radio-phonograph division would continue to innovate and make its mark throughout the 20th century. The brand eventually became tied to budget products, though it remains in use today.