The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Yep, that's the list. Sorry I misread 1928 as 1929 for "Sweet Sue." The label ink is a tad indistinct at that point. Thanks for the correction.

Reason I conjectured post-war to early '50s for album C-29 is that I remember O.P.A. ceiling prices posted in the grocery store when I was a kid in the early '50s. I don't believe that there were any ceiling prices before US involvement in WWII; this would date the album, or at least my copy of it, to 1942 or later. And honestly, I doubt the album was issued in wartime because shellac was considered a critical war material and its use for civilian purposes was limited. This topic bears more research.

According to the wiki, the O.P.A. was established in August 1941 and abolished in 1947 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_ ... nistration). I was misremembering the O.P.S., Office of Price Stabilization, which had similar powers during the Korean conflict (1950-53), when I saw ceiling prices as a kid. So, assuming that my copy of Columbia album C-29 is an original printing and not a later issue, it appears that it was produced between those years (1941-47), shellac restrictions notwithstanding. The price list on the inside of the album cover indicates that each 10" red label popular record was fixed at 50¢, so for this four-record album the cost would have been $2.50 (there was an extra 50¢ charge for the album!). It occurs to me that this would have been a lot of money during those years, clearly making such albums luxury items back in the day.