Fiddler From the 1890s Plays His Violin (Sound Remastered)

0:00 Introduction
1:18 Charles Ross Taggart Performing

This is Charles Ross Taggart (19 March 1871, Washington, D.C. – 4 July 1953, Kents Hill, Maine) an American comedian and folklorist who appeared all over North America as "The Man From Vermont" and "The Old Country Fiddler" from 1895 to 1938. He grew up in Topsham, Vermont, and later lived in Newbury for many years in a house he called "Elmbank," which overlooked the railroad depot.

Recorded with Lee de Forest's Phonofilm process in 1923, this technology ushered in the beginning of sound-on-film. Eventually, Hollywood studios would create their own sound-on-film systems that most of us are familiar with today.

Audio has been remastered.

Mr. Taggart was part of a traveling show called the Chautauqua circuit, where he would perform folk music on his violin, sing, play the piano, do ventriloquism, and tell outlandish stories that supposedly took place in rural New England. Taggart retired from performing from this circuit in 1938.