The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Is there a book available for the early independent record labels from about 1900-1920? I have a few such as Vim, Leeds & Catlin, Thomas, Imperial, just to name a few. I want to expand my knowledge on these types of records, and actively search for them.
Harvey Kravitz

I'd recommend American Record Labels and Companies, An Encyclopedia (1891 - 1943), by Allan Sutton and Kurt Nauck. ISBN 0-9671819-0-9.

George P.

Thanks, George. Who sells it?
Harvey Kravitz

Gosh - - I didn't realize that this book is out of print. It was published by the Mainspring Press, but I could not find it in their catalog. Here's the single online source I found:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Record-L ... 0967181909

Ouch!

I guess this underscores a recurring lesson in our hobby as evidenced in Frow's Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion, Ryan Barna's reprints of The Columbia Record, and others: When good resources are made available, we are well advised to obtain them as soon as we can!

George P.

It would be nice if there was some way that an investing group could form to obtain the rights to reprint some of the "unobtainium" books so many of us would like to own.

Fran

I copied and pasted this information in from Kurt Nauck's last record auction (VRA57, ended 04/11/2015, Pg. 10, under UNCOMMON RECORD LABELS):

"...Allan Sutton and I are working on a revised
edition of
American Record Labels and Co
mpanies - an Encyclopedia, 1891-1943
, scheduled for publication later this year. Once th
at occurs I am contemplating the sale of
our archival label collection. This is may be the most complete
collection of pre-war, commercially issued American disc record
labels in existence. Those with serious interest
are invited to drop me a line."

You might want to wait for the new book to come out, instead of buying the old one. Contact Kurt at http://www.78rpm.com

Happy hunting,
Bob