The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've started the daunting task of organizing my 78's (I have no idea how many, but it's in the thousands), and the two most important distinctions as far as I'm concerned are acoustic or electric, and pre-1942 or 1942-and-later. (For my purposes, post-WWII starts 1/1/1942.) I will post another thread about that specific question.

As for acoustic or electric, There are easily-distinguished records (Victor and Columbia), records where the label will tell you (often in tiny print, or just with an "E") when a recording is electric (Velvet Tone and Regal, for instance), and labels where they don't tell you. I have a lot that fall into this category.

What I propose to do is post photos of labels that I'm guessing about, and solicit the expertise of people who know much more than I do. I also propose that other members post photos of labels that they're wondering about in this thread, so we'll all know where to go as a first step in trying to answer this question about our own discs.

I will start with pictures of 10 labels I'm wondering about. I apologize if most or all of these are obvious to you, but better to be sure. (I also apologize for posting them sideways; I can't figure out how to fix that.) Thanks in advance for your help, and again, I hope other people will post their labels, too!

W/out looking up record numbers to check the recording dates, I'm just gonna say...

Diva - E
Gennett - E
Bell - A
Cameo - A
Van Dyke - E
Lincoln - A
Harmony - A
Perfect - E
Brunswick - A
Radiex - A

Many of these labels (though not always label style) cross over from the acoustic to electric era. Most Harmony's are acoustic but there are some electric and they have the same label. Most records made after 1926-27 are electric.

Use your ears and not your eyes to tell you which is which.

That Gennett record looks suspiciously like some early, early Vertical cut Gennetts I have, that wouldn't work on the Victrola.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:That Gennett record looks suspiciously like some early, early Vertical cut Gennetts I have, that wouldn't work on the Victrola.

I think you could be right. I have 1 or 2 vertical Gennett's that, IIRC, have that label.

I guess I don't make the Final 78 RPM Jeopardy round.

JerryVan wrote:Use your ears and not your eyes to tell you which is which.

Sorry, my ears only work acoustically....

The Gennett is lateral.edisonplayer

JerryVan wrote:Use your ears and not your eyes to tell you which is which.

Sorry, Jerry, my ears aren't that sophisticated. Hence the thread.

In case of doubt, you have to check the matrix numbers. Some carry a distinctive seal of electrical processes in the runout areas, as (V.E.) for Victor, (W) for Columbia, (£) for Parlophone/Odeon. Others carry an (E) on the label (the Plaza/Banner family).
You can use the 78rpm Online Discography, general source for matrixes of many American recordings, at
https://www.78discography.com/
There's you can search for any given record, look for the titles or matrix numbers, estimate a date, etc. It's similar to Steven C Barr guide, but much more extensive. Indeed, I seem to remember that when this started, Steven provided his guide as a support too, although the majority of work came through former databases compiled by Steve Abrams and Tyrone Settlemier, which we were already using by the mid 90s at least...

The Gennett record is definitely acoustic since it was made in 1920 according to Steven C. Barr's 78 rpm Record Dating Guide. The Diva was made in 1927 and used Harmony matrices, so it is acoustic. Diva serial numbers run 2000 higher than Harmony, which continued to record acoustically up until 1930, although there are some Harmony records that were recorded electrically earlier. The Bell and Cameo records are from 1927 and are electric. The Harmony was made in 1927, but Harmony continued to use acoustic recording into the electric era. I think Harmony will say "electrically recorded" when they switched. The Radiex uses the same numbers as Grey Gull and is from 1927, so it's electric. The 2481 Brunswick is from 1923, so it is acoustic. All Brunswicks below serial number 2900 are acoustic. All Brunswicks above serial number 3000 are electric. The 2900's can be acoustic or electric as that is when they were switching over. The Lincoln is a Cameo related record from 1927, so it's electric, and the Van Dyke is a Grey Gull budget label with a 8 prefix to a Grey Gull serial number. Your Van Dyke is from 1930 and definitely electric.

It's confusing isn't it!