Lord Mondegreen, whose ingenuity extends far beyond his incredible skill on the Tuba and the Valve Trombone, worked with the A. C. Gilbert Company in the early 1960's to develop and contribute fresh ideas to the large scale Powermatic series of motorized Erector toy sets. This award winning Erector Set toys, loved by children since early 1913, was one of many sources of inspiration to Lord Mondegreen, who also owned the early edition “Mysterious Walking Giant” robot series of Erector set. A. C. Gilbert was considered by many as a fine inventor who was ahead of his time and while he was a trained medical doctor with a distinguished degree from Yale University, he, like the Babies, devoted his energies to educate and entertain children. Learn more about the incredible Lord Mondegreen at the website: www.atjs.org .

This candid photograph of Professor Joseph Cordi (third from left) with various musical and film personalities was taken near Hollywood, California in the late 1920's. Samuel Goldwyn used this picture as part of his film production studio’s public relations campaign to catapult the careers of those pictured with Professor Cordi to nationwide stardom. Professor Cordi enjoyed the company of those pictured in the photograph and is reported by Variety Magazine to have said, “We had caviar, champagne, roast duck, it was a beautiful California afternoon, I was then, as now, in love with my beautiful wife Debbie (not shown). I did not mind having my photograph taken with these people under such casual circumstances–I thought it was a gag. I had no idea at the time that the photograph would ever be used for anything.”

Pictured with King Crazy Oliver Steck are various program managers from NASA’s Mercury Space Program during a media briefing, circa 1961. King Crazy Oliver Steck was instrumental during the late 1950's and early 1960's in the technical development of the Mercury Space program. In this photograph, he is reassuring inquisitive reporters regarding the overall safety of the new space program. Due to national security concerns regarding the presence of King Steck in this photograph which would have raised questions concerning the amount of alien technology that was used in the Mercury Space program development, this photograph was censored from media outlets.

General Ryan Gould, pictured here with President Theodore Roosevelt and other members of the Roosevelt cabinet, circa 1903. Those present during the photograph recount that Roosevelt is proclaiming General Gould’s advice regarding the development of the Panama Canal as “Bully”, a term he coined from General Gould’s idea of constructing a canal through the Central American country. Although General Gould had advised prior attempts to construct the canal, General Gould had traveled to Central America early in the 1900's to re-survey it for its possible benefit to the United States and propose ideas that would maximize the use of the region, at the specific request of President Roosevelt. Unknown to General Gould at the time the survey was performed, Roosevelt intended to use this information in his controversial “Gun Boat Diplomacy” plan, which General Gould abhorred, being a gentlemen of principle.

Frank Lee Devine, pictured here with Al Jolson, near San Francisco, California, circa 1927. Al sought out Frank’s advice to the select the songs for “The Jazz Singer” and Al’s possible relocation to the West Coast. Frank and Al are shown here with Al’s new custom made Austin automobile, which he purchased from profits obtained through his movie contract. Frank cautioned Al that because he loved to sing so much and worked so relentlessly on his music, he may experience marital problems if he did not seek balance between his profession and his personal affairs. Although many years would pass before he would see and follow the wisdom in the words of Frank Lee Devine, Al eventually made the transition and lived happily for many years thereafter.

Pictured left to right are Yutul Grobanski, Professor Joseph Cordi, and Frank Lee Devine, in the coastal city of Bremerhaven, Germany, circa 1941. Yutul, a leading figure in the Polish underground, escorted Professor Cordi and Frank Lee Devine through their extensive travels along the coast of France, Germany, and Poland during the spring and summer of 1941 as part of a traditional German musical entertainment trio popular with the German Army and Luftwaffe. Their appearances at Army and Luftwaffe functions provided ideal intelligence gathering opportunities in which the trio garnered incredible quantities of useful information for the Allies that was transferred to the Allies through the Polish Underground. Unfortunately, Yutul was eventually discovered by the Gestapo and executed near Gdansk, Poland, with Professor Cordi and Frank Lee Devine narrowly escaping capture. This photograph is the only known photograph of this Polish Underground hero.

Pictured left to right are King Crazy Oliver Steck, Bela Lugosi, and Nancy Casparian at a New Year’s Eve Actor’s Banquet near Santa Monica, California, circa 1939. It is rumoured that Bela Lugosi, upon seeing Ms. Casparian wearing a flambouyant Boater, became so enraptured by her beauty that he claimed to be Dracula. Witnessing King Steck’s response to this remark and Ms. Casparian’s welcome response to Bela’s unusual advance reportedly convinced Bela Lugosi that he could prolong his role as Dracula indefinitely. It is for this reason that Bela Lugosi became fixated with the concept of Dracula and his desire to continuously live as Dracula on and off stage. King Crazy Oliver Steck advised Bela that while this may be an entertaining party gag, it was not the way an actor should conduct himself and warned that Bela’s career would suffer. Unfortunately, King Steck’s advice was not heeded by Bela Lugosi and Bela’s popularity with audiences declined appreciably after his memorable role as Dracula.

Pictured with General Ryan Gould is Johnny Weissmuller in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1923. General Gould, an avid and talented natural swimmer, provided much inspiration and training to Johnny Weismuller during Johnny’s early preparations for the 1924 Olympics. Johnny maintained that General Gould’s techniques and advice were forefront in his mind as he saved countless lives when the excursion boat “The Favourite” sank in Lake Michigan in 1927. Spurred on by General Gould’s training, Johnny developed into an amazing athlete who went on to win 5 Olympic Gold Medals and became widely known for his cinematic role as “Tarzan”.

Pictured from left to right are Boris Karloff, W. Anton Freeman, and Frank Lee Devine, in Grand Central Station in New York, New York, circa 1948. En route to a private event, the Babies paused for a moment to chat with these legendary figures of the horror film industry prior to their appearance on the Milton Berle television show, and the moment was captured by a free-lance photographer from Look magazine. Boris, world renown as a gentlemen, was very complimentary of the Babies and indicated that their contributions to society were exemplary and outstanding. During their visit, he recalled his student years at London University in the early 1900's, and the fateful day when he first heard the talented General Gould’s prowess on the Double Bass during a Babies’ concert at the University. Although he had originally anticipated a diplomatic career, Boris was particularly inspired by General Gould’s love for music and his Double Bass playing told Boris to “follow his passion”. Subsequently, Boris eschewed his diplomatic career and ultimately moved to California, where he portrayed the ubiquitous monster ‘Frankenstein”, among many other memorable cinematic roles.

Frank Lee Devine pictured with various early 20^th century jazz luminaries, on the foredeck dance floor of the picturesque Paddlewheel “Sweet Madie Belle”, traveling along the Mississippi River near New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1919. Upon close examination of the photograph, a very young Louis Armstrong, Pops Foster, and Baby Dodds, among others, can be seen. The Babies were fortunate enough to have traveled through New Orleans during this time period before the demise of “Storyville” and the migration of these legendary musicians to Chicago and New York and cherish the opportunity to have played with these incredible musicians. Professor Joseph Cordi prominently displays one of the large flags shown in this photograph on the living room wall of his Central Texas ranch home. Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies trivia experts will notice that Frank Lee Devine is wearing his favorite string tie which was custom made for him by his mother, Mama Devine.