Kellogg, the Bird Man, Will Lecture in Nevins Memorial Hall. Mon., Dec. 9, 1907. Wonderful Bird-tone Reproductions. Moving Pictures.

Item Details

[Framingham. MA], {Kellogg}, 1907

1st

The announcement, printed on yellow stock, is the size of a business card (3 7/8 x 2 7/8 inches). Excellent condition 

Charles Kellogg was an intriguing and gifted individual. Born in the heart of the Sierras, ..., in 1868 he saw first hand the clear cutting and general deforestation of his beloved mountains. Kellogg was a man of action and decided it was his calling to bring to the public's attention this great loss. After the first world war he outfitted a military grad Nash Quad truck with  what was once a 36-ton solid piece of redwood (he was given that log by the Pacific lumber Company). With some help he soon had it hollowed out enough to mount it to the Nash. That hollowed redwood was his home and Kellogg made four coast to coast trip on his lecture crusade to save the redwoods. He soon counted as friends the great conservationists of the time; Teddy Roosevelt, John Burroughs and John Muir. 

But he had a talent that brought him even more fame than his traveling Redwood; "He was born with an unusual larynx with a range of more than 12 octaves that allowed him to sing like a bird. He actually emulated birds by singing their songs from the throat as they did. By the time Kellogg was 22, his amazing ability to imitate birds had gained him national attention. Physicist Richard Zeckwer used a Helmholtz tuning fork to test Kellogg’s avian voice. Zeckwer said that Kellogg’s bird voice had a vibration of 14,000 hertz and reached levels of 40,000 hertz—so high that it was inaudible to human ears. In 1911, the Victor Talking Machine Company signed Kellogg to his first recording contract. He recorded with Victor Records until 1926 singing bird song in several classical and semi-classical pieces." (Valeries Kaufmann, The Man Who Talked to Birds).