About a century ago, printing and selling sheet music was a big business, with many homes having a piano and no gramophone. Many of these sheet music came with illustrated covers that still look great in our days. In today's post I will share a dozen of them, in random order. Not much text, also because the illustrators are usually not mentioned - just enjoy the pictures. The image above was made with Photofunia - no copyright issues.
'Cherie' is an American foxtrot song from 1921. This cover by Art Phillips may be the most beautiful I've seen so far.
A song sheet cover that is beautifully representative of the jazz age. The title of this 1922 German song 'Wenn man allein ist' translates as "When one is alone". Social distancing avant la lettre?
The song 'Don't mind the Rain' is from the early 20s, and one would presume the same holds for the illustration used.
'Lu' (a Boston Waltz) is a 1919 song with the same name as my wife, and a great cover for the music
sheet to boot - a must for the blog. This one was designed by
the famous German poster artist Ludwig Hohlwein (1874 - 1949).
Chicago (That Toddlin' Town) is a classic written by Fred Fisher in 1922, and best known in the Frank Sinatra version.
Another beautiful jazz age song sheet cover from the twenties by an unknown
illustrator. The German title 'Was macht jede Nacht so ein kleines Baby in der Bar?' translates as "what is such a small baby
doing every night at the bar?"
'I'm happy go lucky' is a 1919 song
with lyrics by Freedman and music by Squires. The
illustration is by someone called Natvick.
I've
never heard of the song 'Diane of the Green Van', but the design puts it around 1920, and it may
be related to the 1919 movie of the same name.
'Who wants a kiss? is the translation for this French song 'Qui veut un baiser' - another
fine example of sheet music art. The design is credited to Belgian
artist Peter de Greef. I don;t have the date, but it is probably late twenties or early thirties.
One would assume that the title 'Parisiola' refers to Paris. The bubbly joy comes across very well in this illustration, which is probably form around 1920.
'No wonder' is a Joe Burke song, probably from the twenties. The cover is one of the most beautiful in this genre and would make a
perfect wall decoration.
'Last night I dreamed you kissed me' is a song from 1928, perhaps best known in the Louis Armstrong version. A wonderful and almost spooky sheet music cover from the jazz age.
Copyright statement: posting lower quality sheet music covers is deemed fair use.
