Victor Promotional Record Album

[epigramophone]

I acquired this album, minus records, some years ago in a job lot. It is an unusual find in the UK, but is no doubt very common in the USA.

Each of the six inner sleeves is devoted to a particular genre : Vaudeville, Orchestral, Vocal, Dance, Opera and Band music.

Details of four different records in each category are included in the printed text, and presumably the records which the album originally contained would have been one of the four selections listed.

Clearly the album was issued to promote the new Orthophonic recordings, but was it sold or given away with the purchase of a new Orthophonic Victrola?

[FloridaClay]

Haven't seen that album before. It is a neat looking piece. Have you been able to fill in any of the missing original records?

Clay

[epigramophone]

I have a few unrelated VE's, but none specific to the album.

Completing the set in the UK could take years........

[estott]

These are fairly common in the USA but hard to find without damage. I don't think they were sold with a specific record assortment but supplied free with the purchase of records - but I could be wrong. They are attractive and harmonize with the paper covered albums Victor used for early Orthophonic sets.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Here's all the news on the Victor Orthophonic album. They came with a suggested list of records, but as you can see, the customer was allowed to substitute. It was announced in the November 1926 supplement. This was the time Victor finally decided to admit that they were recording electrically: an announcement that certainly must have been very old news by that point. But Victor and Columbia had made a sort of gentleman's agreement in early 1925 that they wouldn't tell all about the new process, lest it depress the sales of the acoustic material. This was not the case up here: Victor in Montreal announced " The New V.E. Process" in July of 1925 in banner advertisements which were liberally sprinkled with the words " microphone" and " electric."

Jim Tennyson

[estott]

Thank you for that!

[epigramophone]

Thankyou one and all. I knew I could rely on this forum for the answer!

[FellowCollector]

I have found only 3 of these early Orthophonic record albums in 25 years of hunting. Thankfully, mine are in nice condition and had the appropriate records included. My opinion is that these are not fairly common in the US - irrespective of condition.

[FloridaClay]

I don't remember ever seeing one before.

Clay

[yankmycrank]

Didn't Victor 'fess up to electrical recording inearly November 1925? That was when the first orthophonic machines were introduced. I understand the specific label for orthophonics came out the following year.