Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

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Inigo
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Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by Inigo »

This is not a very complex label, with beautiful drawings... It's simply the beautiful simple Spanish Columbia label of the early forties. It came with golden lettering over a simple label in colors blue, black, bright green, red and, yes, a bright satin gorgeous pink!
I've always loved the simple but strong appearance of this label. When this label appeared in 1935,it was only in satin black. A bit later, due to our war and scarcity of materials and general hard economy, it appeared in plain blue or red. A bit later, probably 1939-1940 a light green color also appeared, and also the pink, but all in plain rough thick paper. But near 1943, when things started to go slightly better, all these colors started to appear in gorgeous satin paper, and it was the most beautiful epoch. Black disappeared by then, but you had still red, green, blue and pink.
After 1946-47 the pink also disappeared.
This is a good example of a 1944 Columbia pressing on that marvelous pink. Notice the beauty of the golden lettering, the power of the Columbia logo and the notes, in the middle of the Spanish translation of the Magic Notes logo. Notice also the wide lettering in the upper arch saying made in Spain, in Spanish, of course. It seems to be handwritten.. .
The record is a pressing from uk Decca matrix, with the well known Sidney Torch, organ, and Mantovani, violin, recording of Eric Coates By the sleepy lagoon, in Spanish, Cerca del tranquilo lago.
The photos don't make justice to the beauty of this label. Sorry for my camera...
Inigo

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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by epigramophone »

Here is the British equivalent :
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Orchorsol
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by Orchorsol »

I agree, a really beautiful label - gorgeous colour, lovely fonts and gold print (although maybe a modern typographer would think the mixture of fonts bad!). A great record, too! I would love a copy of that, organ and violin. As you might know, it's an iconic piece of music here, having been the signature tune of "Desert Island Discs" for many years.

Although the difference is subtle, I find the British equivalent dull by comparison - but perhaps it's just (un)familiarity!
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by drh »

I suppose my tastes just must be more florid, but I have long thought common, garden variety Brunswick was quite possibly the most elegant label of the acoustic era (probably too familiar to need photos, but here are two--not mine--anyway):
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by neilmack »

The original, and still the best!
patti 1.jpg
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patti 3.jpg
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patti 2.jpg

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poodling around
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by poodling around »

Well, okay, it isn't pink.

How-ever, I have always liked my red 'Twin' records from Calcutta.

I had always thought that they were only made with yellow labels.
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by Inigo »

Those are very beautiful too! :)the pink Columbia in the flesh is similar to that Gramophone Voi Che sapete. It's a very bright satin pink.
Probably my taste for the Spanish Columbia label lies in its intrínsec beauty and also in the misterious and romantic idea I have about that enterprise, whose story was indeed hazardous and interesting.
I have written about it several times in this forum in the past.
Inigo

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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

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edisonplayer
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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by edisonplayer »

I have a couple Arion records. They appear to have been pressed by Gennett. And speaking of beautiful record labels my late friend Jerry Donnell thought the Columbia Flag label was beautiful. I think so,too.edisonplayer.

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Re: Have you ever seen such a simple beautiful label?

Post by Curt A »

I have always been attracted to this particular version of Parlophon...
Probably because it is similar to some of the wonderful German needle tin graphics...

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