The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Thanks for the info, Viva-tonal. I have several DD's that don't have numbers. They have small numbers etched just inside of the record grooves, but no other numbers anywhere. Other than those, I think I have the DD's figured out! Thanks for the help everyone.

Oh yea, one more thing. I was given a box of records a couple weeks ago that had some interesting finds. There were probably 75 or so records, ranging from the 20's through the mid 30's or so. The box came from the collection of an old DJ and are all clean and organized. Here is my question, has anyone seen records that were not meant for distribution? There are several in the box that say things like "Promotional Record, Not For Sale", "For Demonstration Purposes Only", and a bunch of Victor records that say Victor across the top like normal and have the words "Record Prevue - Disc Jockey Sample". Then directly under that is a stamp that says "NOT FOR SALE". The particular one I am looking at for reference is "No Other Love" by Perry Como. Does anyone know anything about these sort of records. There are probably 25 or so in the box with many different record labels. Just thought I would ask!

Sounds like you have a group of vintage DJ copies on 78. Sometimes they're pressed on vinyl, which is great if they're in decent condition.

The DDs you say don't have catalogue numbers....what you have there are some of the really early ones, that had the numbers stamped into the outer edge of them, six times. So three of them were right-side-up when you had one side of it facing up, the other three when you had the other side face up. But the numbers have worn off with the years. The other numbers on them are the matrix numbers of each recording.

Others here may have books listing all the DDs so if you provide them with those matrix numbers to each of them, they can tell you not only the catalogue numbers of them but perhaps the identities of the artistes as well (as I've seen some very early DDs that didn't have their names on the etched labels).

!

Viva-Tonal wrote:The Edison DDs that say 'EDISON RECORD' on the labels are the later ones. I think the name change occurred in 1923 or 1924. I don't know how high the classical numbers go, but the main pop series that started at 50000 or 50001 in 1913 ended at 52651 in late 1929.

No's 80885-80907 & 82351-82360 were electric recordings, and the last of the classic range.

Viva-Tonal wrote:The DDs you say don't have catalogue numbers....what you have there are some of the really early ones, that had the numbers stamped into the outer edge of them, six times. So three of them were right-side-up when you had one side of it facing up, the other three when you had the other side face up. But the numbers have worn off with the years. The other numbers on them are the matrix numbers of each recording.

Others here may have books listing all the DDs so if you provide them with those matrix numbers to each of them, they can tell you not only the catalogue numbers of them but perhaps the identities of the artistes as well (as I've seen some very early DDs that didn't have their names on the etched labels).

I have 2 DD's with the shield label, in mint condition & in their original covers, that don't have the record number on the label or edge, so I don't think the edge numbers have worn off.
The recordings date from 1914 & 1915, but the covers are from 1919, so I think these are just later pressings done after the edge number system had been dropped, but using the original masters.

You can search DD's by matrix number at the Truesound Discography site, and this will give you the catalogue number, artist & recording date etc. I think David may have added the file here somewhere too??

http://www.truesoundtransfers.de/disco.htm

Thanks for the references. They will be a big help.

So now I am going through this box of records and am starting to wonder if there are some rare finds or not. I don't know much about records at all, just some of the big names generally speaking. I thought these were just run of the mill records and only bought the whole box at auction due to a couple Japanese records in the bunch. But I think there may be some nice ones in there aside from just the Japanese records. Does anyone collect or know much about records ranging from the 20's to about the mid 50's? I have just scratched the surface of whats in this box and have found a single sided Silvertone, an early Brunswick, a King Cole Trio Decca, (the trios first label I believe) etc. I don't have a clue as to what is valuable, rare, or desirable to collectors. Any help? (Thought I would ask since I have asked everything else record related so far.) Thanks again!

I'm about half way through the box now and have spent most of the morning looking up record labels. Most seem to be from the 20's, but I haven't heard of many of these labels. Here are a few for example:

A 10" record with a pink label made by Derby. I found a little info on this company, but not too much.

A 10" record with a maroon label made by Algene. I could only find one reference to the Algene Recording Studio for record #1933 titled, "Tea Leaves", which happens to be the one that I have. Hmm...

How about this one. A hunter green 10" record, white label with red writing. Made by Hi-Tone. There isn't too much about this company either.

There are records by Brunswick, Puritan, Century, Savoy, Continental, London, Perfect, Silvertone, Bluebird, Decca, Victor, Columbia, MGM, Majestic, Capital, Queen, Royal Roost, Signature, Trappey's, Commodore, Apollo, King, Epic, Musicraft, and the list of labels goes on and on. The problem is, I don't know anything about different brands and how collectible they are. I'm out of my league on this one!