Superiority of Columbia records

[Cody K]

Thanks for the confirmation on the manufacturing question, Wolfe. Was Harmony associated with a particular store, the way Diva (for example) records were only available from W. T. Grant? And speaking of Diva, those too have a very similar quality to Columbia and Harmony. Were they also made by Columbia?

My experience with blue Columbias is limited, as I don't have many. I'm sorry that I can't cite the particular performance at the moment, as the record is somewhere in a stack, but I have a blue Columbia that has a movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, from about 1930. It stands out as one of the best records I have in terms of sound quality. It's a European recording. I wish I 'd been able to find the rest of that set. That one is certainly equal to any black Columbia I've heard.

[beaumonde]

I agree with Wolfe about the Royal Blue vs. black shellac. In general, although a clean laminated pressing can be very quiet, they often tend to produce annoying "swish" which cannot be easily removed. I'd much rather listen to an even surface noise pace Victor than such swishy pressings.

[Harold Aherne]

Thanks for the confirmation on the manufacturing question, Wolfe. Was Harmony associated with a particular store, the way Diva (for example) records were only available from W. T. Grant? And speaking of Diva, those too have a very similar quality to Columbia and Harmony. Were they also made by Columbia?

Yes. I've not heard that Harmony was associated with a specific chain of stores, but they were quite successful when first issued in September 1925:
http://www.vjm.biz/new_page_11.htm

Here are the subsidiary labels that Columbia manufactured in the late 20s and early 30s, usually referred to as the "budget" or "dime store" labels.
Harmony (1925-32)
Velvet Tone (1926-32)
Diva (1927-30)
Clarion (1930-32)

Harmony, Velvet Tone and Clarion used the first letter of their respective names as a suffix. Diva used -G, perhaps for its Grant connection (and anyway, -D was already taken by Columbia's popular series). Until late 1930/early 1931, the Velvet Tone number was 1000 higher than Harmony and the Diva was 2000 higher. Shortly after Clarion was introduced, the numbering got out of step and wasn't quite so tidy.

Other labels were also sourced from Columbia's budget series, including the -P suffix series that bore Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Publix labels in 1929-30. They were apparently sold at Loew's and Publix movie theatres and often featured songs from MGM and Paramount films (but there are exceptions on both labels). Here's a Publix:
http://mobile.collectorsfrenzy.com/gall ... 620062.jpg
(Notice the Columbia patents at the bottom of the label. For obvious reasons, they couldn't use Paramount as the primary label name!)

There was also the Puritone label (as opposed to Puritan and Puretone) that used an -S suffix and was offered at Straus & Schram:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7S28EFhENU

OKeh was manufactured by Columbia starting in 1926, although it was never treated as a dime-store label. Columbia continued to press US Odeon records through 1931 and there was also a US Parlophone label from 1929-31 (whether intended for US markets, though, I'm not sure).

-HA

[Wolfe]

There was also the Puritone label (as opposed to Puritan and Puretone) that used an -S suffix and was offered at Straus & Schram:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7S28EFhENU

OKeh was manufactured by Columbia starting in 1926, although it was never treated as a dime-store label. Columbia continued to press US Odeon records through 1931 and there was also a US Parlophone label from 1929-31 (whether intended for US markets, though, I'm not sure).

-HA

What about Silvertone?

[Harold Aherne]

What about Silvertone?

Here's an article on Sears-Roebuck record labels, Silvertone included:
http://www.mainspringpress.com/sears-labels.html

It looks like Columbia supplied masters for Silvertone from 1916-18, 1925-27 and 1940-41.

-HA