The photograph was taken at a Luncheon Presentation in the famous Frascati restaurant in London on Tuesday, October 23rd, 1934.
The luncheon was presented in honour of James Van Allen Shields, on the occasion of his retirement from the Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd and allied interests, and Charles B. Gregory in celebration of his forty years of service with that same company.
The picture shows seventy-one persons: sixty-four gentlemen and seven ladies. We do not know if all people in the picture were directly involved with the record business, but, no doubt, most of them were.
Apart from the obvious guests of honour, James Van Allen Shields and Charles B. Gregory we can also discern a number of other Very Important Persons: Louis Sterling, Alfred Clark, George Croydon (“Lord”) Marks and Fred Gaisberg.
Michael Lloyd-Davies had no trouble in recognizing his grandfather, Joe Batten.
We also see recording engineer George W. Dillnutt.
But who are the other ladies and gentlemen in the picture?
Fortunately, the menu of the 1934 Frascati luncheon has also been preserved.
And, what is more, a number of guests have left their signatures on the back of the menu.
So we not only know what kind of food was on offer, but we also know the names of a number of people who were present.
Most of the signatures are perfectly legible.
We recognize the signatures of recording engineers Oscar C. Preuss, Arthur S. Clarke, George W. Dillnutt, Walter S. Barrell and Douglas Larter.
And also the signatures of Herbert C. Ridout, Rex Palmer, William S. Purser and Charles B. Dawson Pane.
Alas, not all signatures are legible or ring a bell…
But there must be people among you who will recognize certain names or can decipher these illegible or partially legible signatures on the menu and can tell who they belonged to.
• The inside of the menu (with a musical doodle by Joe Batten)
• Front and back cover of the menu with signatures
• List of sofar identified signatures
And what about those friends and colleagues in this picture who did not sign the menu?
Since the event was to a large extent a Columbia affair, it is not unlikely that people like Arthur H. Brooks, William T. Forse, Arthur E. Liedtke, Raymond Langley and Alan Dower Blumlein were also present.
But who can point them out in the picture?
We hope you can help us out with the identification of a number of mystery guests.
If you detect a familiar (not yet identified) face among the crowd, please let us know.
• Each person in the picture has been fitted out with a number plate.
hover over this number plate and a detailed portrait pops up.
• List of sofar identified persons.