The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've been digging through a very large lot of 78's I recently picked up, and have come across some labels I've never encountered before in several decades of accumulating. (I collect phonographs; I accumulate records.) Here's one -- I know I have at least one more of these in the lot (I'm less than halfway through sorting it) but can't lay hands on it just this moment. I can't find a single picture of another one online. The Sutton/Nauck book says there are "few known specimens" of these, but my edition is 21 years old, so perhaps many more have surfaced since then? In any event, I'm curious to see how many there might be out there, what other titles people might have, and anything else anyone may be able to tell me about this label.

I believe this label is pressed by Hawthorne & Sheble’s American Record Company. They produced records and printed the Company’s name and info on them; many small retailers used their services. They were sued for copyright infringement by the Columbia Graphophone Co in 1907 and ceased producing records in the US.

I found this in April 1905 issue of the “Talking Machine World”, page 6, available for download from https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-B ... e-0006.pdf

Mr Ormsby had set himself up a nice little business!

GlensterTX wrote: Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:10 pm I believe this label is pressed by Hawthorne & Sheble’s American Record Company.
F74B7EE7-C0F0-447C-A57F-E10AE2DA3E89.jpeg

I don't believe Hawthorne & Sheble had any connection to the American Record Company.

George P.

George, I don't understand. Hawthorne and Sheble is printed on the American Record Company's label.

Let me look that up for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Record_Company

“ The American Record Company (commonly abbreviated as "ARCo") was founded by Ellsworth A. Hawthorne and Horace Sheble, formerly designers of accessories for Edison Records machines at their Philadelphia-based bicycle shop; in a previous venture, they had issued a small run of brown-wax cylinders in the mid-1890s.[1] Hawthorne and Sheble partnered with John O. Prescott, whose brother Frederick worked with International Talking Machine in Berlin, which marketed Odeon Records. The new company was based in Springfield, Massachusetts, though they maintained factories in Bridgeport, CT and Philadelphia; recordings were made in a studio in New York City.[1] American principally produced single-sided, lateral-cut disc records on blue wax, although two-sided issues and standard, black shellac appeared towards the end of the company's run.[2]”

There are many other references, it’s well-documented.

My mistake - - I'm afraid my fingers ran ahead of my brain.

This Ormsby Disc Record wasn't pressed by the American Record Company (which was indeed a Hawthorne, Sheble, and Prescott enterprise), but was pressed by the International Record Company in Auburn, NY. The Ormsby label is typical of the client pressings undertaken by International, as you can see in this thread:

https://forum.antiquephono.org/topic/16 ... nd-labels/

When I mistakenly typed "I don't believe Hawthorne & Sheble had any connection to the American Record Company," I meant to have typed "International," but neglected to point out that American had nothing to do with the Ormsby. The usual result when typing in haste. I apologize for creating any confusion.

George P.

*I’m* the one spreading misinformation! Of course, you are absolutely correct, this is an International pressing. I apologize for adding to the misinformation out there, and thank you for setting me straight!

Well, between the two of us we finally got it! Hopefully we're both firing on all cylinders today, but I'm going to carefully proofread my posts before I hit "SUBMIT."

George P.

George, you are in good company when it comes to hitting "SUBMIT" befor

Ha! Well, hopefully I learned my lesso