LIFE

In 1907 recorder for NEOPHONE CO. (Kinnear Indian Recordings, p. 41, 47-48)
He was to embark on a Far Eastern recording tour including India, but there is no evidence to confirm that .....
Picture postcard dated 19 Feb 1908
In 1912 NIPPONOPHONE (PhZ 13, No. 15, p. 358)
Merger of AMERICAN PHONOGRAPH CO. & NIPPONOPHONE



Otto WATZIG (31y) clerk
+ Emil WATZIG (28y) clerk
+ Karl/Carl Max WATZIG (25y) mechaniker
+ Ida WATZIG (30y)
SS "IMPERATOR"
Dep. Cuxhaven: 11 June 1913
Arr. New York 19 June 1913
destination: San Francisco, CA

1917-1918 living as farmer in Canyonville, Douglas, Oregon

1920 Canyonville, Douglas, Oregon


=========================================================

OTTO HEINRICH WATZIG (1881-1945)

I first came across the name "Otto Watzig" in a small announcement in the German trade journal "Phonographische Zeitschrift" of 1912.
Otto apparently had been asked to make recordings in Japan for ...... (Nipponophone?).
Kraemer and .....
"In Japan hat kürzlich die Verschmelzung der beiden Firmen Japan American Phonograph Co. und Nipponophone Compg. unter dem Namen der letzteren stattgefunden. Beide residieren in Yokohama. Die J.-A. P. Mfg. Co., Ltd. [Japanese-American Phonograph Manufacturing Company, Limited] ist die Fabrikations- und die Nipponophone, die Verkaufsgesellschaft. Der Gründer der Gesellschaften ist F. W. Horne, ein Händler in amerikanischer Maschinerie und früherer Agent der Victor - Company.
Die Experten sind zwei Deutsche, Thomas Kraemer aus Philadelphia, der Superintendent der Machinenabteilung und Otto Wätzig, der Superintendent der Plattenfabrikation.
Der letztere befindet sich schon über drei Jahre bei der Firma.
Die Nipponophone - Gesellschaft beherrscht den Japanischen Markt noch ganz ohne Konkurrenz, da der Einfuhrzoll von 50% jede Konkurrenz von ausserhalb ausschliesst.
Japan hat noch ein lohnendes Feld für deutsche Fabrikanten der Branche bei Errichtung einer Fabrikationsfiliale, besonders da der ungeheure Markt Chinas vor der Tür liegt."

Merger AMERICAN PHONOGRAPH CO. and NIPPONOPHONE

Since I was not familiar with Otto Watzig I stored away this piece of information.
The second time I saw Otto Watzig's name mentioned was in Michael S. Kinnear's book "The Gramophone Company's Indian Recordings, 1899-1908".
According to Kinnear, Watzig was the recording expert of the NEOPHONE Company and in 1907 he was to embark on a Far Eastern recording tour including India.
Kinnear remarks that until now no evidence had been found to confirm this.

NEOPHONE (Dr.) William Michaelis, Joe Batten, Percy J. Packmann, H. D. Nesbitt (GRAMMAVOX article Frank Andrews, p. 3101)

The Talking Machine Review, 65-66, Febr 1983, pp 1798-1807 Neophone catalogue reproduced

High time to do some research on Otto Watzig...
I found Otto Watzig's name on the passenger list of the SS "IMPERATOR" which had departed on 11 June 1913 from Cuxhaven, Hamburg in Germany and was bound for New York.
Also on that passenger list were Otto's brothers Emil, Karl/Carl Max and his sister Ida.
San Francisco`(California) was given as final destination. From there Otto no doubt was going to board a ship bound to Japan....
The Watzigs arrived at New York on 19 June 1913.
Strangely enough both Otto's and Emil's occupation is described as "clerk", whereas his brother Carl Max's occupation was listed as "Mechaniker" [mechanician/technician].
One would have expected things to have been the other way round...

As it turned out, one of their brothers, Bruno, had already visited the USA at an earlier date (in 1910).
His name is found on a passenger list of the SS "PENNSYLVANIA", which departed from Hamburg on 14 August 1910 and arrived at New York on 26 Aug 1910.
His destination: Portland, Oregon.

Originally the Watzigs [or rather the Wätzigs] came from Gunnersdorf near Dresden, Germany.
Otto was the second son of Ferdinand Eduard/Edward Wätzig and Ernestine Morbitz.
The other (6? 7?) children were: [Eduard] Bruno, [Alma] Ida, [Ferdinand] Paul, Richard Emil and Karl/Carl Max.
Four other Watzig children (Hugo Reinhold, Martha, Eduard and Elisabeth Ella Watzig) seem to have died at an early age...

I consulted all kinds of sources (ELLIS ISLAND, censuses, draft registration cards, phonebooks and obituaries (ROOTSWEB/FAMILYSEARCH/ANCESTRY/RAOGK) for genealogical information)

no date:
one of Otto taken in Berlin when he was still associated with NEOPHONE (a very small inconpicuous picture which I had blown up and to my surprise it....),

1908
A photo of Otto and Bruno which they sent as a picture postcard to their parents i.e. Ed. (= Eduard) Wätzig in Dresden, Germany (dated 19 Feb 1908, Bangalore, India) and written in old German handwriting (the so-called sütterlin script).

Herrn Ed[uard] Wätzig, Dresden-A,
Schützenplatz 5 II, Germany

Bangalore 19.2.08

Liebe Eltern!

Auf dieser Karte seht Ihr einen Ameisen-
haufen von weissen Ameisen errichtet. Ich
schrieb Euch im letzten Brief davon.
Ich wollte Euch eigentlich heute einen
anderen Brief senden, bin aber nicht
fertig geworden. Habt ihr von dem
Krawall in Bombay gehört? Ich schreibe
Euch von dieser Massenmörderei im Brief.
Die Blätter erzählen nicht viel [davon]. Nächsten
Montag reise ab nach dem Süden von
Indien, es [ist] mir hier nicht heiss genug.
[upside down]
Wir haben jetzt bloss 35? R [= Réaumur] in der
Sonne und 23? [R] im Schatten, angenehmer Winter.
Es grüsst Euch herzlich
Euer Bruno.

- an undated picture of Otto and Bruno taken in Mysore (India) (Gruppe von ....... Elephanten in Mysore).
- an undated picture of Otto and Bruno sitting at a small table (prob. India)
- an undated picture of Otto and Bruno with bicycles taken at the village of Tumkur, 8 miles ... of Bangalore (dorf (Ort?) Tumbur or Tumkur?) ca 8 Meil ... von Bangalore)
- undated picture of Otto and some unknown Englishman(?) surrounded by 21 Indians
- undated picture of Otto and Bruno

These pictures prove that Otto did visit India after all, although they cannot be considered proof that recordings were actually made. Apparently Otto was accompanied on this trip by his brother Bruno.


1912
a beautiful picture of Otto and his brother Emil near one of the entrance gates of the Great Wall of China (written on the back: 10.10.12 (= 10 October 1912) Chi Men(?) Tor der Tartar City, Peking, China)


1910 - 1913?
Otto at the seaside with four Japanese men.


It turned out that in the end Bruno, Otto (Heinrich) and (Richard) Emil had migrated for good to the USA.
In the USA Federal Censuses of 1920 1nd 1930 we find the gentlemen living on north-west coast of America.
From the description of their occupations in the 1920 and 1930 Censuses (prune drying/farmer/runs orchard) it is clear that they became involved in the growing of fruit in the Oregon/Washington area, when their travels were over.
Otto (full name: Otto Heinrich) was born on 11 September 1881 in Dresden, Germany
In 1917 he married Hedwig Ann Kasper in Portland, Multnomah county, Washington and the couple had 3 children.
Otto Watzig died - one month after the death of his brother Max - on 15 April 1945 in Vancouver, Washington.



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12inch 1/. each

NEOLITE

In the picture a stand/pedestal with a gramophone
women in evening-dress plus three other people


NIPPONOPHONE
Later DENON (= DENSHI ONKO = electric sound)


Nipponophone Phonograph Company founded by Frederick Whitney Horne, American entrepreneur, in 1910 (internet)
ANCESTRY.com:
3 x on California passenger lists
2 x on Seattle passenger lists
1 x on New York passenger list
His age will have been indicated


Frederick W. Horne (b. 1868, ...., Anson Co., North Carolina)
F: William E. Horne (b. 1802 - d. 24 May 1882)
M: Sarah Moore (Meador?) CARAWAY (b. 1835, NC)
got married 1824


FAMILYSEARCH:
Frederick W. Horne (b. <1856> Union, NC


PhZ 13 / No. 15 / p. 358
F. W. Horne (merchant american machinery and previously agent of Victor Company)
Thomas Kraemer (superintendent Machine Deaprtment from Philadelphia)
Otto Watzig (superintendent Record Manufacturing; already 3 years with the firm)



RUSSELL EMERSON HUNTING (1897-1966)

Russell E. Hunting Head of Recording Department Nipponophone 1920-1923
(source: William Howland Kenney, p. 72 & note 30)
In 1923 Russell E. Hunting (27y) returns from Yokohama to San Francisco together with his wife Marie H. .... - Hunting (25y) and son Russell E. Hunting Jr. (2y).