The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Well, I didn't make it to the MME. My friend and I were enjoying NYC and decided to stay in the city, though we did run into a fella selling an Edison Standard, with a banner decal, for $695.00. I passed on it, however, at a junk store I found a record with the label "Columbia-Rena". It looks like it dates from just before World War I. Can anybody tell me about it? I've never seen this label before.

It's from the UK. Could you post the catalogue and matrix numbers and other information? Thanks!

On one side the song is "A Memory" and the numbers beneath the title are (28136) and 1964.
The other side is "When the Swallows Homeward Fly", (28135) 1964.

Let me know if this tells you anything.

All I can find is that around 1908 Columbia bought the Rena Record Company and issued discs in the UK under the Columbia-Rena name, seems to have phased the name out around 1912. It might have been a licensing thing or possibly required to do business abroad: HMV had to paste labels reading GRAMOLA over it's name in some countries. I have a Spanish pressing of a Columbia disc labeled REGAL Grabado Viva-Tonal, and a French pressing of the same number labeled Columbia.

The Rena Co was started in Dec 1908 by Louis Sterling & N. M. Rodkinson, & their discs were pressed by Columbia (UK). In 1910, Columbia bought out Rena, & the Columbia-Rena label was introduced. The last Columbia-Rena released was no.2584 in 1915.
Louis Sterling bought out Columbia UK in 1922, and a few years later also acquired Columbia USA.

Thanks for the information and the photos! I only bought this record because I'd never seen the label before, and haven't even played it yet. It's nice to know some of the history now.