Cora Folsom Salisbury
Cora May Folsom Salisbury Aulmann, sometimes billed as C. Folsom Salisbury, was an American musician and composer of piano music, including works in the ragtime genre. She was also the first vaudeville partner of violinist Benjamin Kubelsky, later known as comedian Jack Benny.
Early life
Cora May Folsom was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the only child of James Harrison Folsom and Eliza Ann Knofsker Folsom. Her father and his brother ran a sawmill. In widowhood, her mother ran a boarding house. Cora studied piano as a girl.Career
After her first marriage ended, Cora Folsom Salisbury helped her mother run boarding houses, tried her hand at sales, and returned to music, earning a living as an accompanist and stage pianist. Around 1907 she started a vaudeville act as a "pianologist", and began touring the American midwest and publishing her original compositions. Works published under the name "C. Folsom Salisbury" included Paula, Poodles Parade, My Light Guitar, Lemons and Limes, Arbutus Blossoms, Ghost Dance, and Love's Embrace.She was the house pianist at a theatre in Waukegan, Illinois, when she was not touring. There, in 1909, she met a young violinist who was in the theatre's orchestra. Benny Kubelsky eventually partnered with Cora Folsom Salisbury on tour, as they both had a knack for mixing music and humor. As "Salisbury and Benny" they presented both classical and popular music, along with some of Salisbury's original compositions. The act succeeded enough to play the Palace Theatre in New York City, and launched the show business career of Jack Benny.