The Dancing Castles and the Victrola

Further to the Lancaster Apartments of our previous post (the building with a grand piano in #6), said furnished unit was also equipped with a Victrola. These early turntable record-players were then beginning to make the household piano obsolete.

Here is an ad that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen in November 1914, around the time the Lancaster was built, placed by the John Raper Pianos Co., 179 Sparks Street (indeed piano dealers became the front line of record-player retailers.) The ad features a $20 table-top model. In that year, Victrolas could cost as much as $200 for a standup cabinet-style apparatus.

For historical context, WWI started in July of the same year.

The ad mentions Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle. "The Dancing Castles," Vernon and Irene, were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a stage name: Vernon (2 May 1887 – 15 February 1918) was born William Vernon Blyth in England. Irene (7 April 1893 – 25 January 1969) was born Irene Foote in the United States.

The Dancing Castles, 

publicity photo c. 1912