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Label |
Notes |
Images |
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Valkyrie
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This was an
British-pressed record dating from 1912-1916 and produced for Catesby's
Limited for sale in their London department store.
The catalogue
numbers ran from 1 to about 570, then numbers above that were prefixed
D- or E-. It is thought that this may be one series, but the reason for
the two different prefixes is obscure.
The records initially used
Beka masters from numbers 1 to about 270, then Jumbo masters were used
from 300 to 570; it is not known if number 270-300 were ever used. The
prefixed series use Homophon and Jumbo masters to start with before
changing to Beka.
The label colour varied, (which is typical of
cheaper British labels of this period) known examples being mauve, dark
blue and red. |
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Van Dyke |
One of my favourite labels from a visual
perspective, Van Dyke records were a product of the Grey Gull company of
Boston, Mass, USA. They were quite a late-comer on the scene being
around only in the very late 1920s up to Grey Gull's demise in 1930. As with
other Grey Gull products of this period, some were shipped
over to Britain, judging by the appearance of UK publisher's copyright
stamps on the labels. This may have happened with remainder stock after
the parent company closed down. The copyright stamp value of 1d on the Van Dyke records
implies these records were sold for about 2/6, which is fairy expensive
for a cheap record. The question is: Who
was selling them in Britain? I have noticed that some labels have "Made
In the USA" rubber stamped on them.
The images are the examples I
have in my collection. Reverse sides, if not shown, have no stamps, nor
do they show any signs of having had any in the past, which is very
odd. |
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Velvet Face |
Velvet Face records were made by J.E. Hough's
Edison Bell Company. The Velvet Face record was supposed to be a
superior product, but it is doubtful whether Edison Bell used a
different shellac mix for their production, so it was probably all a
marketing ploy.
Velvet Face records were introduced in late 1910 in
an oversized 10" form, and a 12" version was introduced in 1913. Both
series ceased in late 1914. The label re-appeared under the personal
direction of Joseph Batten, in late 1921, lasting until 1927. Again,
both 10" and 12" sizes were made.
The pre-war label was red with
gold lettering with two slightly different designs.
The post-war
label was initially purple with gold lettering, changing to green with
gold.
Rather confusingly, almost identical catalogue number
series were used for the pre-war and post-war series.
The pre-war 10"
ran from 1001 to about 1427 and the post war from 1000 to about 1212.
The pre-war 12" ran from 600 to about 642 and the post war from 500 to
about 720.
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Venus
(takes you to Jumbo listing page) |
Following the last
Jumbo record in 1919, the label name was changed to "Venus" and the
catalogue series followed on as well, from No. 1580 and ran well into the
1600s as well as using the A-series also found on Jumbo. Some
lower-numbererd Jumbos were given Venus labels when repressed.
Like Jumbo, the
records were produced by Hertfordshire's Mead Works (then owned by
Columbia) and used the Lindstrom/Beka
master series.
Label listing: I have listed all known
Jumbo & Venus issues under "Jumbo" and the link in the left-hand column
takes you there. |
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Vernon Adcock |
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the
image. |
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Vesper |
Dating from just post
WWI, this record was made by Crystalate, probably for religious music
publishers, Morgan & Scott Ltd. |
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Vic Lewis Society |
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the
image. |
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Victor |
The famous American record company was part-owner of the Gramophone
Company in Britain and as such there were reciprocal arrangements
between the companies. One was that you could order ANY Victor record to
be imported to Britain. It would seem that Levy's did a lot of this and
it is not unusual to find Victor Records that were sold in Britain - the
copyright stamp gives it away. |
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Victorious |
A very obscure label which presumably dates from the pre-1920 period.
The "Guaranteed Genuine British Manufacture" is typically used on Edison
Bell records of that period, but the record doesn't look like an Edison
Bell product, so this will have to remain a mystery for now!
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the
image. |
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Victory
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Previously known as
"Stella Gramophone Record", the name was changed due to copyright
issues. The record was produced for J. Blum & Co by Kalliope Records of
Germany. Many Stella records are found with "Stella" scored out, or with
a "Victory" sticker over the name. Once stocks had been sold, the
records were re-pressed with the new "Victory" label, and new issues
obviously were also made with the new label. It is not known if all
"Stella" records can be found as "Victory". |
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Victory
(7") |
In 1928, a new Victory label was
launched. This was a 7" record produced by Crystalate for sale in
Woolworth's stores for 6d. Introduced in the Autumn of 1928, it was
effectively a replacement for the 6" Mimosa record and as such offered
much better value. Victory records are generally electrically recorded
and have a playing time of about 2½ minutes. The catalogue ran from No 1
until about 318 in March 1931 when it was replaced by Eclipse - an 8"
record - for the same price. |
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Victrophone |
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt
for the
image. |
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Viel-O-Phone |
An Edison Bell product
produced for sale abroad, this time in India.
Thanks to Rainer Lotz for the label
scan. |
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Vitadisc |
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the label image. |
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Vitaphone |
This Vitaphone record was one of the very first disc records to
be sold in Britain. They were made by The American Talking Machine Co
(in the U.S., obviously) and were 7" in diameter and pressed in a
red/brown material, with details printed in gold in the central area.
The first ones were produced in America in 1898 and maybe came
to Britain by 1900.
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the label image. |
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Vitaphone |
These records were manufactured by Columbia as soundtracks to
accompany silent films in teh 1920s and early 1930s.
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the label image. |
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Vivaphone |
Thanks to Steve Walker for the
label image
http://www.hepworthfilm.org/menu.htm |
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Vocalion |
The British company
started in 1920 and was initially called Aeolian-Vocalion. The label
design was similar to the already established American label and there
were numerous catalogue series and owners over the next 30 or so years.
The name and label design was so iconic that it has been revived in the
LP era and is currently being used by Dutton Laboratories for their CD
reissues. In the 78 era, there was initially the X- series and cheaper
M-series in the 1920s, and later a B-series marketed by Brunswick
(usually over-pasted with the "Kildare" name. In the 1930s, there was a
"Celebrity" 500-series and the excellent "Swing" series starting at S-1
and running for over 300 issues. Then in the 1950s the V-1000 series
mainly issued excellent dubs of classic jazz usually from the 1920s. |
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Vogue
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The UK Vogue label was launched in the early 1950s and
concentrated mainly on current jazz recordings from the UK and from the
USA. |
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Vogue Coral |
Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the label image. |
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Vox
Humana
(sold
in Australia) |
This was a
British-produced label for sale only in Australia. The records date from
the early to mid 1920s and use Pathe Actuelle masters. The catalogue
number started at VH-1 and ran to VH-68.
Thanks to Bill
Dean-Myatt for providing the label photo. |
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