Commemorating the 1,000,000,000th RCA Victor Record!

[transformingArt]

[youtubehq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTCJIuGDg9A[/youtubehq]

Wolfe posted his record of 1901 Vess Ossman - and here's the same issue on 45rpm, this time celebrating 1 Billionth "RCA Victor" Record since August 5, 1939 to October 3, 1961. The flip side is Chet Atkins' "One Grain of Sand".

[Edisone]

Hooray for Vess Ossman! Yuck @ Chet Atkins!

[gramophoneshane]

What is the significants of August 5, 1939 ???
I thought RCA/Victor had been around about a decade longer than that.

[recordo]

I think they mean the one billionth record pressed at the Indianapolis plant?

[Wolfe]

Someone at RCA was a little overly fond of that record? OrthoSean had also posted that it also appeared as the B-side of an Ames Brothers promo 78.

Even those who worship Vess Ossman would have to acknowledge that it's not even the first extant Victor record, not by a long shot.

[JohnM]

Seems I've read that Ossman's 'Tell Me Pretty Maiden' is the oldest master in the company vaults.

[Viva-Tonal]

Rust's AMERICAN RECORD LABEL BOOK says 'Hope' by the philosopher Robert Ingersoll (a Berliner recording) is the oldest master preserved in the Victor vaults, and that bit of info comes from the chapter on Berliner records.

[Viva-Tonal]

What is the significants of August 5, 1939 ???
I thought RCA/Victor had been around about a decade longer than that.

My guess is, it's when the Indianapolis plant began operations. (True, RCA and Victor merged in 1929.)

[Wolfe]

the Victor vaults

Where are these Victor vaults? There seems to be a lot on conjecture about the whereabouts of the Caruso masters (among other less prominent but interesting things.) I'm just curious if anybody has information.

[JohnM]

Rust's AMERICAN RECORD LABEL BOOK says 'Hope' by the philosopher Robert Ingersoll (a Berliner recording) is the oldest master preserved in the Victor vaults, and that bit of info comes from the chapter on Berliner records.

I think my source for the 'Tell Me Pretty Maiden' attribution may be from either 'The Fabulous Phonograph' or an old Jim Walsh article. Either way, older sources that may be supplanted by newer sources. The TMPM by Ossman may be the oldest Victor master, not Berliner?