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1st) I believe I know the answer to the brown label(someone made a home copy)but since I was curious about the 2nd record, I figured, what the heck, lets see what the consensus is.

2nd)record 80275 Carmena/Spring Flowers matrix 4065A-1-3 & 4064-A-2-2 respectively. Both have etched in the smooth area
#12 ins. A298199 and outs A346362 on R side
#12 ins. A288273 and outs. A281746 on L side

Unfortunately I don't have a 2nd copy to compare to, or for that matter, any other record with such markings. Any ideas? inside? outside? I have attached some pictures also. I have no idea why someone would take the time to etch these onto the records. Thanks for the help.

Gary

No idea abut the etchings, sorry.

The brown label is intriguing because it's out of place - in more ways than one. That style label didn't exist until 50813 and it was only used for various discs in the 518xx range. The other really interesting thing on that is the etched matrix number 4826. That appears to be an approved but unreleased take of the Pagliacci prologue (Si puo, Si puo...) from 1916, long before the paper label was used, and which has absolutely nothing to do with what the label says. It's also true to the style of the actual label that was adopted in 1921 and would be fairly difficult to make a homemade version of, at least in the days before home computers became common. Perhaps it's some kind of prototype?

What does the other side of this unusual record look like? Have you played it?

I didn't even get past the odd coloring of the label, so no I haven't listened to it yet or looked at the matrix #. I will give it a whirl, and a picture of the other side tomorrow. I was told this batch of records was from the Edison estate. Yeah, right i thought. He was clueless on the records but I saw enough interesting titles in the 1st box to take them all.I'm leaning towards an old employees's collection. I'm still going through them.Thanks
for your input.

Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday, busy day. Anyway, the brown label is the same on both sides, as you will see by the picture. The matrix #'s are such

4826-A-1-1 Thomas Chalmers/I Pagliacci rec date 6/27/1916 (No coupling # in data base)

the only matching info is on coupling # 82070 matrix 3431 rec date 11/16/1914
(since I have 82070 I can hear they are slightly different versions of the song)

7240-B-1-2 Cherniavski/Leggenda valacca rec date 3/1920 (This shows as "discarded" in data base with no coupling #)
no matching coupling # only "held on matrix 7240-A" and "discarded on 7240-B & C"

Label info
50706-R Aloha Oe-Paraphrase/Sodero's Band matrix 7457 rec date 6/25/1920

OK, so most likely a discard, but still an odd label and no coupling reference #'s.



Still no thoughts on the etchings on the other record?

OK, my speculation would be that this was intended to be an internal sample for a potential new paper label, glued on a disc pulled from the discard pile. The fact that both labels are the same and neither corresponds to the disc tells me this was more about the label than the music. It's just a "bonus" that it happens to have 2 otherwise unreleased performances!

I certainly wouldn't risk removing the label, but it would be interesting to know what's underneath it. Is it glued directly to Condensite or did they make an exposed paper/core area for the label to adhere to?

On closer look to Side R 7457 make that matrix 7240, between that # and 7457 there seems to be exposed paper that it was glued to. It is on very well and seems to have no lifting, unlike other labels we have seen.

Labels can easily be removed from a DD with a little steam from a kettle. Then lay the label to dry on a towel and press it flat in a book. Not that I'm recommending it