Oh Say! Can I See You To-Night 1925 Ruth Gillette Sheet Music

Words by Henry Creamer and Joe Schuster; music by Leon Flatow

Published by Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York & Detroit, 1925

About this Item

Scarce and visually appealing mid-1920s popular song sheet issued during the peak of America's ukulele craze and dance-band era. The striking Jazz Age cover art is by Albert Wilfred Barbelle (1887-1957), one of the best-known illustrators of the Tin Pan Alley era, celebrated for his elegant sheet-music covers and later for illustrating the first Mickey Mouse book. The design depicts a fashionable flapper seated at an early candlestick telephone in stylized blue-and-cream Art Deco coloration, accompanied by an inset photographic portrait of performer Ruth Gillette. Interior includes ukulele tuning instructions and accompaniment diagrams intended for home performance, reflecting the rapid popularization of amateur music-making during the radio age.

Condition: Very Good. Complete and fully legible with mild edge wear, light corner creasing, and gentle age toning consistent with 1920s sheet music. Small edge chips and short closed tears at margins; interior music pages remain clean and bright. Cover retains strong color and visual appeal with only moderate handling wear. Edition/printing: first edition/first printing thus, with original 1925 copyright date and no later reprint indicators noted.

Henry Creamer (1879-1930) was one of the major African American lyricists of the Tin Pan Alley era, collaborating on numerous vaudeville and Broadway standards. Leon Flatow (1886-1942) was a prolific composer and arranger active in popular music and theatrical publishing during the 1910s-30s. Cover artist Albert Wilfred Barbelle became one of the defining visual stylists of American sheet-music illustration, producing hundreds of memorable covers during the Jazz Age. Jerome H. Remick & Co. was among the leading American sheet music publishers of the early twentieth century, known for colorful illustrated covers and dance-era popular songs.

Seller Inventory # SM.CRE.1925.1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Oh Say! Can I See You To-Night 1925 Ruth Gillette Sheet Music
• Publisher: Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York & Detroit
• Publication Date: 1925
• Language: English
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Albert Wilfred Barbelle
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art
  • Music
  • Non-Fiction