The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have noticed there are at least three different size Victor Batwing labels. Any rhyme or reason for this? Length of the song? And how common are the small labels. This is the first one I have seen.

Stetam

It's not at all uncommon, with acoustics it usually was because the song was longer.

Sean

Also I think the wider batwing labels indicate an older recording. The last U.S. batwings in 1925 have an eccentric groove in the dead wax and a circle with VE to indicate it was electrically recorded. Also many acoustic batwing records that continued to be pressed, like Caruso, were given eccentric grooves so they would operate on the new Orthophonic phonographs with a shutoff mechanism. Canadian Victor records continued to use the batwing labels into the 1930s and maybe longer.