Singin' Sam

Harry Frankel is best known as "Singin' Sam, the Barbasol Man", a role he filled for 12 years on the airwaves.  Frankel was born on January 27, 1888 in Hillsborough, Ohio and his family moved to Danville, Kentucky later settling in Richmond, Indiana.  As a young man, Harry Frankel loved to sing at the local barbershop eventually joining a quartet and later the traveling minstrel troupe, Coburn's Minstrels. 

Frankel got his first break on the early days of radio with the Great Lakes Lawn-Mower Company in 1929. He became "Singin' Sam, the Lawnmower Man."  The name was so catchy that he adopted it for his new gig for Barbasol shaving cream and became "Singin' Sam, the Barbasol Man" in 1931. And in 1937, Harry made broadcasts for the Coca Cola Company called "Refreshment Time with Singin' Sam."

This collection includes recordings from 1911 to the 1940s, including the 15-minutes Reminiscing with Singin Sam, Refreshment Time with Singin' Sam, 70 musical tracks, and more.

Also see Lou Dumont's Personality Profile: Harry Frankel: Singin' Sam the Lawnmower Man about the life and work of "Singin' Sam" Harry Frankel and his charming wife Helen "Smiles" Davis.

This collection is part of the larger Minstrel Show Collection.  See also: Strollin' Tom and Smilin' Jack Smith Show and Two Ton Baker.