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Has anyone else run across this 78 label? I have only seen one in all my years of collecting. This has to be one of the rarest labels out there.

This is a super rarity for a couple of reasons. It was an advertising record for Sherwin Williams : a custom pressing from the Compo Company in Lachine Quebec. My avatar, Herbert Berliner was the president. The record came with an advertising sleeve giving all the info on Sherwin Williams paint. But the second side...is....drum roll please....an electrical recording! It was recorded by Berliner at Compo in late 1924 making it one of the earliest electricals to be sold to the public. Berliner being a trained engineer had developed a workable electrical recording system in 1924. They weren't up to the standard of Western Electic and the Bell labs, but the later ones were quite passable. Pathé in New York used the Berliner system for a few years, I think. I presented all this years ago at an ARSC conference...1988 I believe ..and I've learned a lot more since then, but this record is a real milestone, and ranks with the Autograph sides from the Marsh labs as one of the very earliest electricals to make it out of the laboratory and into the hands of the public.
The dance side...which sounds like Lanin... is acoustic and comes from either Pathé or ARC with whom Compo had a pressing agreement .

Jim

Thanks for your information about the label and recording. I knew this had to be rare label because I have only seen one in all the years I have collected 78's.

Is there a visible matrix number in the wax (besides or perhaps even under the label) on the "dance side" in the picture? That way we might tell where it came from.

Fredrik

I thought it looked very much like the Apex label.
Great find Jazzgirl!

Jim.

Scrolling down the old posts of I noticed, The Sherwin-Williams record 'tis Springtime again (668)posted by the Jazz Girl 1920's, and noticed yor qoute, I have a copy in almost mint condition, but do not have the original sleeve. When I had a program presentation at Caps, over fifteen years ago, John Rutherford, knew I have that record, and presented me the original sleeve in good condition , as a token for my presentatiom. I also never noticed that the other side was electrically recorded. I will attempt searching for it tomorrow.

Jim

Lenoirstreetguy wrote:This is a super rarity for a couple of reasons. It was an advertising record for Sherwin Williams : a custom pressing from the Compo Company in Lachine Quebec. My avatar, Herbert Berliner was the president. The record came with an advertising sleeve giving all the info on Sherwin Williams paint. But the second side...is....drum roll please....an electrical recording! It was recorded by Berliner at Compo in late 1924 making it one of the earliest electricals to be sold to the public. Berliner being a trained engineer had developed a workable electrical recording system in 1924. They weren't up to the standard of Western Electic and the Bell labs, but the later ones were quite passable. Pathé in New York used the Berliner system for a few years, I think. I presented all this years ago at an ARSC conference...1988 I believe ..and I've learned a lot more since then, but this record is a real milestone, and ranks with the Autograph sides from the Marsh labs as one of the very earliest electricals to make it out of the laboratory and into the hands of the public.
The dance side...which sounds like Lanin... is acoustic and comes from either Pathé or ARC with whom Compo had a pressing agreement .

Jim

Jim.

Scrolling down the old posts of I noticed, The Sherwin-Williams record 'tis Springtime again (668)posted by the Jazz Girl 1920's, and noticed your qoute, I have a copy in almost mint condition, but do not have the original sleeve. When I had a program presentation at Caps, over fifteen years ago, John Rutherford, knew I have that record, and presented me the original sleeve in good condition , as a token for my presentatiom. I also never noticed that the other side was electrically recorded. I will attempt searching for it tomorrow.

Jim

Lenoirstreetguy wrote:This is a super rarity for a couple of reasons. It was an advertising record for Sherwin Williams : a custom pressing from the Compo Company in Lachine Quebec. My avatar, Herbert Berliner was the president. The record came with an advertising sleeve giving all the info on Sherwin Williams paint. But the second side...is....drum roll please....an electrical recording! It was recorded by Berliner at Compo in late 1924 making it one of the earliest electricals to be sold to the public. Berliner being a trained engineer had developed a workable electrical recording system in 1924. They weren't up to the standard of Western Electic and the Bell labs, but the later ones were quite passable. Pathé in New York used the Berliner system for a few years, I think. I presented all this years ago at an ARSC conference...1988 I believe ..and I've learned a lot more since then, but this record is a real milestone, and ranks with the Autograph sides from the Marsh labs as one of the very earliest electricals to make it out of the laboratory and into the hands of the public.
The dance side...which sounds like Lanin... is acoustic and comes from either Pathé or ARC with whom Compo had a pressing agreement .

Jim

This is a post I never saw. I think it was a little before me coming on board. That said, I too have a copy. Jim, can you tell me if were all hand written on side "B" the Compo Co. etc....????. Also, here is a label that I'm not sure is also Compo.

Hi "Gramophone 78,"

I just found the record. As to your question, yes side B, The Four Clover Brothers, there was a hand written etched on the wax E 148 the Campo Co. LTD Lachine-Montreal Canada. The record was made by Campo, but Sherwin Williams attached their label to promote their sales. Sherwin Williams is not a record company, they are paint store chain. I think they are still in business.

James

gramophone78 wrote:This is a post I never saw. I think it was a little before me coming on board. That said, I too have a copy. Jim, can you tell me if were all hand written on side "B" the Compo Co. etc....????. Also, here is a label that I'm not sure is also Compo.

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That's Compo . The E prefix to the serial numbers means of course Electrical. Herbert Berliner started recording electrically in late 1924. I did a long presentation at the ARSC(Association of Recorded Sound Collections) Conference in 1988 about Herbert Berliner, Compo and the introduction of electrical recording in Canada. And at that time I didn't HAVE a copy of this record, I do now of course. I suspect, but I'm not entirely sure that this was the earliest Compo electrical master to be issued to the public. I kinda did some ground breaking work in this area, and I've always meant to continue it:I had a book in mind in the 80's, but that making a living thing sort of intervened. I was still teaching in the 80's so academia wasn't as far away as it soon became.


Jim