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October 30, 2014
Why Nerdy White Guys Who Love the Blues Are Obsessed With a Wisconsin Chair Factory
Petrusich: Paramount is this incredible label that was born from a company called the Wisconsin Chair Company, which was making chairs, obviously. The company had started building phonograph cabinets to contain turntables, which they also were licensing. And they developed, like many furniture companies, an arm that was a record label so that they could make records to sell with the cabinets. This was before a time in which record stores existed. People bought their records at the furniture store, because they were things you needed to make your furniture work. So the Wisconsin Chair Company, based in the Grafton-Port Washington area of Wisconsin, started the Paramount label. And they accidentally ended up recording whom I believe to be some of the most incredible performers in American musical history.- - - Collectors Weekly
Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 30, 2014 6:28 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
It’s these privileged white people collecting this music from disenfranchised African Americans. There is something uncomfortable, I think, for a lot of people, myself included, about that exchange.
Christ, it's tough to be a hipster....
Posted by: Rob De Witt ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://americandigest.org/sidelines/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 30, 2014 8:07 AM
I'm reminded of the scene in O Brother Where Art Thou when the record Man of Constant Sorrow for the radio station.
And I feel no shame about loving old blues :)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at October 30, 2014 8:40 AM
Neat! Thanks for bringing this story to us Gerard.
Posted by: Onthenorthriver at October 30, 2014 9:40 AM