The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was looking at some photos of old labels and I noticed the very first 10in label victor used for a couple of weeks in January 1901. I found this interesting that victor had a label that predates my earliest Victor 10 inch records from February 1901. Just how rare is this label? Is this one of those you can spend a lifetime of collecting and never find one kind of things? Is it like finding a copy of Stormy Weather by the Five Sharps?

If you are seriously interested in the history of Victor records, I would recommend getting a copy of Mike Sherman's "Collector's Guide to Victor Records". The revised second edition is published by Monarch Enterprises in Tustin, CA.

On p. 36, mention is made of this rare label, which was used for only 16 titles in January 1901. After that, the records were labeled "Victor Monarch Record".

So yes, they are extremely rare and you are highly unlikely to ever find one "in the wild".

The Victor "Ten-Inch" label is quite scarce, though hardly unique. I kept a census of known copies for a number of years, and as I remember, there were about two dozen out there that have been identified.

They turn up occasionally in Kurt Nauck's auctions, and usually fetch a low four-figure price. They are found on numbers 3001-3016, and according to Fagan & Moran, all recorded during the first two weeks of January, 1901.

#3005 is one of the "common" ones, if any can be called that, and I think four copies of that are floating around. Here is a toughie... it is the only copy known to date.

As a pendant to these early American labels, here is what I believe to be the first British design. I believe this record dates from the spring of 1901, although the earliest copies may have been issued in 'Berliner' format with embossed wording; certainly record no. 7942, by the same artist and presumably from the same session, exists as one of the very rare ten-inch Berliners (see https://early78s.uk/b/#bwg73/2333).

Oliver Mundy.