Odd OKEH Records

[Skihawx]

But still the labels are printed before they are pressed. Unless they run some thru the presses to get the pressure and temperature and such adjusted.
Then they might use blank labels. I have never seen this before. And I have quite a few various types of test pressings.

[Roaring20s]

I am familiar with printing and methods used from the 1980s onward. I won't pretend to know exactly how things were done in the 1920s. This is long winded, but it tells a story.

For reasons of quality and waste control, a "shell" is created.
The shell consists of the unchanging elements of the label without the specific disc information.

The quality is for company's identity, so that it remains constant from record to record, year to year. There is a lot of waste in setting up a press-run. This helps control that cost too.

For example an 8.5" x 11" uncut press sheet consists of six images of the shell label. These sheets would be shelved and imprinted to fill a variety of new records and ongoing reorders. They would set-up the press using scrap paper to achieve color and position of imprint, and then the shell is run through the press for the desired yield.

The imprinted sheets are then die cut and ready to be applied.

I found the following example on-line to back-up the method I've described.
Note that the imprint is not parallel to the unchanging shell information.

Screen Shot 2021-04-29 at 11.24.50 PM.png (564.1 KiB) Viewed 695 times

I'm just saying that a group of different records in there finished state, all having blank shells on them, and none having any notes seems unlikely to be tests. That why I suspect a single employee made himself a collection of what he liked from records that were blank. That would happen if the press pulled two sheets at the same time. The top sheet receiving the imprint and the bottom sheet remaining blank.

Still interesting. Still a mystery.

James.

[poodling around]

I am familiar with printing and methods used from the 1980s onward. I won't pretend to know exactly how things were done in the 1920s. This is long winded, but it tells a story.

For reasons of quality and waste control, a "shell" is created.
The shell consists of the unchanging elements of the label without the specific disc information.

The quality is for company's identity, so that it remains constant from record to record, year to year. There is a lot of waste in setting up a press-run. This helps control that cost too.

For example an 8.5" x 11" uncut press sheet consists of six images of the shell label. These sheets would be shelved and imprinted to fill a variety of new records and ongoing reorders. They would set-up the press using scrap paper to achieve color and position of imprint, and then the shell is run through the press for the desired yield.

The imprinted sheets are then die cut and ready to be applied.

I found the following example on-line to back-up the method I've described.
Note that the imprint is not parallel to the unchanging shell information.
Screen Shot 2021-04-29 at 11.24.50 PM.png

I'm just saying that a group of different records in there finished state, all having blank shells on them, and none having any notes seems unlikely to be tests. That why I suspect a single employee made himself a collection of what he liked from records that were blank. That would happen if the press pulled two sheets at the same time. The top sheet receiving the imprint and the bottom sheet remaining blank.

Still interesting. Still a mystery.

James.

Very interesting.

I found a another very interesting account of how labels were made 'way back when':

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bixogra ... t5862.html

In addition to the gentleman's account in the above link, it seems that during the early 1900's The Gramophone Company had their 'Monarch' and 'Concert' label 'backgrounds' printed by a company called 'Harrison' (who were only 10 minutes away from their Hayes factories) and then sent them to Germany to have the gold colours added. Fascinating stuff indeed !

[SSBN 657]

So I went through the 70 records, and came up with 6 records that only had blank white labels with no writing on them. Where does that lead us to now?

Tim

[SSBN 657]

[Inigo]

Could it be this one?

IMG_20210430_181413.jpg

Or this other?

IMG_20210430_183613.jpg

In any case... Promising!

[Roaring20s]

Interesting article linked by poodling around. Similar practices then, too.

Inigo, I read it as 8169A / 72896B.

James.

[Inigo]

8169 is the issue number, and 72896B is the matrix number, here is the complete info from DAHR

Screenshot_2021-05-02-00-27-04-281_com.android.chrome.jpg

Screenshot_2021-05-02-00-30-06-195_com.android.chrome.jpg

Screenshot_2021-05-02-00-29-54-287_com.android.chrome.jpg

[SSBN 657]

I'm going to go back to the folks where I bought the records and see if I can get any historical info. I'll let all know how it turns out.

[Roaring20s]

I'm going to go back to the folks where I bought the records and see if I can get any historical info. I'll let all know how it turns out.

That's a great idea!
Hope you discover a detail or two.

James.