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“Superior to black” — Switches to black.epigramophone wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 7:30 am The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.
Oh, please...MisterGramophone wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:08 am“Superior to black” — Switches to black. Also, casual 1900s racism it seems.epigramophone wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 7:30 am The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.
When did they switch to brown to try to stand out or something?
Don’t feed the trollsJerryVan wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:53 amOh, please...MisterGramophone wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 8:08 am“Superior to black” — Switches to black.epigramophone wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 7:30 am The earliest Aeolian Vocalion discs were pressed in a similar reddish brown shellac. Needless to say, Vocalion claimed it to be superior to black, but they soon discontinued it in favour of black.
A more attractive colour was the dark blue used by American Odeon on discs which were said to be for export only, but this did not prevent US Columbia from taking legal action which forced them to cease production.
Blue reappeared in the 1930's on US Columbia's Royal Blue label, said to be pressed on a super fine grade of shellac.
Sounds like classic early 1900s marketing. Today, if Dutton Vocalion tried marketing natural colour as “superior”, they’d be sued for false advertising.ChesterCheetah18 wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 12:33 pm The "red" records (as Vocalion called them) are simply the natural color of the shellac without any dye added. They are neither better or worse than any others. It was simply a marketing gimmic. "Splatter" records are also just a novelty, with small globs of differently dyed shellac mixed in.
Steve
