Sally Hamlin

Sally Emery Hamlin (December 23, 1902 - July 4, 1987) was an American child actor, pianist, and recording artist. Biography She was the daughter of Dr. Cyrus E. Hamlin and Hattie Bennion; also the great-granddaughter of former U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin. She is a shadowy figure today, and would probably be completely forgotten were it not for a series of 78rpm spoken word recordings she made for children in the 1910s and 1920s. Sally recorded primarily for the Victor Talking Machine Company, but also recorded a few 7" discs for Emerson Records and at least one disc for Aeolian Vocalion. These records were readings of poetry by such authors as Eugene Field and James Whitcomb Riley, classic stories such as Cinderella and Rumpelstilskin, and even excerpts from Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. Sally also recorded piano rolls for Duo-Art and a piano solo "The Butterfly", for Victor, which was never issued. Sally Hamlin was fifteen years old when she signed a one year contract with Victor on April 12, 1917 and made the trip from her home at 7 Woodruff Avenue, in Brooklyn, New York to Victor's recording studios in Camden, New Jersey. During this period, her most popular records were made. Sally delivered James Whitcomb Riley's dialect poems "The Raggedy Man" and "Our Hired Girl" with natural girlish charm and they were instant successes. Her recordings of Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" and "The Sugar Plum Tree" are notable for Sally's use of sprechstimme, particularly in the final stanzas which are accompanied by harpist Francis J. Lapitino. This dreamy half spoken, half sung performance is one of the earliest examples of sprechstimme in a commercial recording. On June 25, 1925 Sally married James Tinker Denton, a widower, in Manhattan. Sally became a step mother to Arthur Shaw Denton, James Thomas Denton and Florence Ann Denton. Sally and James T. had a child of their own Martha Louise Denton who was born in January of 1927. James T. passed away 15 October 1950 in New York State. On November 1, 1926, Sally Hamlin signed another contract with Victor, this one for a two-year period. While her earlier recordings had been made by the acoustic recording process, this group was recorded using the new electrical process, introduced in early 1925.