The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I bought a few records today and in the pile was a Columbia record that appears to be made from blue shellac. Is this a mistake by Columbia? And if not what should I know before playing it?

It's not a mistake, this was a marketing ploy by Columbia during the depression. They were called "Royal Blue" at the time. Some collectors really go crazy over these.

Sean

I have a UK Classical set by Columbia on blue - very striking but the sound quality is the same as standard shellac

Here's a nice Royal Blue a-spinnin' on the old 812 X Orthophonic.

http://youtu.be/n1A5mU-oUpk

According to "Note The Notes" (isbn 0-9632903-2-0), these "Royal Blue" records were produced from late 1932 to 1936 with claims of being quieter than the black label/black shellac. I don't happen to have any of them, but they do have some eye appeal if nothing else.

I have one or two, and they do have very quiet surfaces. Not much of a sample size in my case though.

I have several hundred of them in both jazz and classical genres. They are good players, but very prone to lam cracks although most all of them are silent.

"The silence of the lams"....

At the end of Royal Blue production, the blue got mixed in with black for Brunswick dark blue West Coast pressings. These are super hard to find 1936- 37 issues. Some ARC pressings also appeared in very dark blue.

Thank you for the information.

Here's a blue Columbia with the special Ted Lewis label from this period:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM8LNQZpEGQ

Cliff

The blue shellac and blue label making a striking combination.

Clay