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- Inset photo is of Luigi Romanelli, who led the orchestra at the King Edward.
- A larger version of the illustration is in the pdf article "An Illustrated History of
the King Edward Hotel," page 41.
- The song "I'll See You in My Dreams" on the sheet music above is described as "A typical Isham Jones melody fox trot song" with lyrics by Gus Kahn and music by Isham Jones.
I'll See You in My Dreams (Youtube Link)
I'll see you in my dreams,
Hold you in my dreams,
Someone took you out of my arms,
Still I feel the thrill of your charms!
Lips that once were mine,
Tender eyes that shine,
They will light my way tonight,
I'll see you in my dreams!
Though the days are long,
Twilight sings a song,
Of the happiness that used to be;
Soon my eyes will close,
Soon I'll find repose,
And in dreams you're always near to me.
A commentator on the above Youtube source says that the piece was performed by Ray Miller and his Brunswick Orchestra and released by his Brunswick label. It was recorded on 12-4-1924 in NYC. I cannot find information the vocalist.
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In its heyday, the King Edward patrons were privy to the latest entertainment by the Hotel's orchestra. Above is a 1920s poster that is advertising an upcoming performance by Luigi Romanelli and His King Edward Hotel Orchestra. Romanelli performed at the King Edward from 1923 to the 1940s. What hotel has its own orchestra, let alone hosts dance evenings on a regular basis? Not the current King Edward.
Here's some background on Romanelli, including his Toronto vocalist Gladys Smith, who later on became famous as Mary Pickford:
Luigi Romanelli, a violinist, performed on the streets of Toronto. He and dancer, George Weitz, worked Yonge at Bloor. Weitz achieved fame as producer of a series of Broadway reviews, "George White's Scandals." Romanelli made his vaudeville debut, in 1897, with Gladys Smith, from Toronto. She's better known as Mary Pickford.Here's more autobiographical information on Romanelli as a musician:
Romanelli lead the first orchestra heard on radio. The live broadcast came via CKCA-AM and from Shea's Theatre, in Toronto. That was 1922. Not long after, the Romanelli Orchestra had its own live radio shows on the NBC Blue Network.
Romanelli, Luigi. Orchestra leader, violinist, b[orn] Belleville, Ont, 29 Nov 1885, d[ied] Murray Bay (La Malbaie), Que, 29 Jul 1942. He was the son of the Italian-born harpist Joseph Romanelli (1859-1944, a concert and theatre musician in Toronto) and a nephew of Rocco Romanelli (d 1941, a violinist known as 'Romanelli the Great,' who toured briefly with Enrico Caruso in the USA and accompanied Nellie Melba).King Edward also had its own radio broadcasting station from 1928 on (from pdf article p. 43):
In his youth Luigi Romanelli played the violin on Toronto street corners for a young dancer, George Weitz (later of George White Scandals fame), and at 12 made his stage debut as an actor with Mary Pickford (then known as Gladys Smith)...His was one of the first theatre orchestras to accompany silent films with descriptive music. The Romanelli orchestra at Shea's Theatre is thought to have been the first in Canada to broadcast on radio (1922, over CFCA).
In his day one of Canada's most popular orchestra leaders, Romanelli became music director for United Hotels in Canada in 1923 and at his death had performed at the King Edward Hotel, Toronto, for more than 20 years...Romanelli's 11-piece radio orchestra, the Monarchs of Melody, was heard on CRBC and CBC and, occasionally, in the USA on NBC's 'Blue' network.
On March 5, 1928, radio station CKGW beamed out its first broadcast from an ultramodern studio in the King Edward Hotel. “Tonight marks one great step forward in the history of radio broadcasting in the Dominion of Canada,” broadcast manager N. E. Maysmith announced with pardonable pride...The grandness of the hotel is still palpable. It almost seem to be still inhabited by the gentle ghosts of these bygone personalities (including the hotel patrons who came to enjoy a few days of relaxation - even busy business men entered an oasis when they came here).
It also made sense, because it promoted the hotel itself. Broadcasting from six to midnight, CKGW offered mining news, weather, but mostly music. Romanelli and the hotel were front and centre on the schedule. Dinner music from the King Edward Hotel ... Luigi Romanelli and his Radio Syncopaters ... Supper Music by LuigiRomanelli and his King Edward Hotel Orchestra from the Oak Room of the hotel …And so it went for about five to six years, before the station moved out of the hotel and was ultimately rolled into something called the CBC.
The great news is that the hotel is undergoing renovations, mainly to restore it to its original state. Many of the downtown heritage buildings are getting similar attention, which seems to be a new focus to revive the important architectural sites in the city, and to curtail the encroaching glass-dominated high rise buildings which are often erected after the former have been demolished.
Here is the heritage plaque on the hotel.
The King Edward Hotel was built by George Gooderham's Toronto Hotel Company to meet the demand in the rising metropolis for a grand hotel. When in opened in 1903, the hotel, affectionately known as the "King Eddy", was embraced by the city. The fireproof, eight-storey building, designed by eminent Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb and prominent Toronto architect E.J. Lennox, provided luxury in service in dramatic settings. The 18-storey tower, with its top-floor Crystal Ballroom, was added in 1920-21 to enlarge the hotel. Although threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the hotel was revitalized in 1980-81. On its 100th anniversary in 2003, the King Edward, Toronto's first luxury hotel, remains a vibrant and elegant meeting place for local and international visitors.