Columbia Talking Machine Record, "Casey at the Telephone," 1896

Russell Hunting was an early recording artist who developed the popular "Michael Casey" character, an Irishman with a heavy brogue who found himself in a variety of comic situations. In this recording, the unsophisticated Casey struggles with technology unfamiliar to him -- the telephone. The caricature of the ignorant Irishman was frequently the subject of 19th century humor.