These pages are just notes about the labels which may be found on 78s. Click on the label to see a larger image. Many labels have more pictures, information and sometimes listings which may be found by clicking on the link.  I have included labels from all periods, not just the 1920s and 1930s, just because I find them all interesting!  
         All label scans are from my own collection unless otherwise noted. Information about the labels is from various sources, including my own researching, but Brian Rust's "The American Record Label Book" was very useful as was Don Taylor's "The English 78 Picture Book" and various articles by Frank Andrews and Arthur Badrock in "Hillandale News" and "The Talking Machine Review".           
        In order to make the pages more managable (and quicker to load), I have split this section into alphabetical parts. Click on the appropriate letter below to see the section you want.      

A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   Non-UK Labels

Label	Label Photo
Radio Edison Bell's entry into the lucrative 8" disc market came in 1928 with Radio records. The first issues made no mention of "Edison Bell" on the label. The records were described as "The Big 8" and cost 1/3. It was a high-quality product aimed at the popular market. Ex-music hall artist, Harry Hudson, was musical director and provided most of the dance music under a variety of pseudonyms. In 1931, the gold-on-blue colour scheme was almost reversed and it became black-on-gold, but time was running out and the label ceased to be in 1932. The catalogue numbers started at 800 and reached just over 1600 at the end, though 1000-1200 weren't used (at least in Britain). Continental series usually had a prefix and were printed with a dark blue-on-violet label with the same design as the usual British ones. All were recorded and made in Britain. Matrix numbers were in an 80000-series.
Redwing A pretty obscure label, Redwing was produced by British Homophone, using matrices also issued on Sterno. The label was presumably made for a shop or store, but I don't know which one, if so. The catalogue numbers are in an R-1000 series, the extent of which is also unknown to me at present. Click here for a listing of this label (not yet complete).
Regal Regal started as a budget product made by Columbia Records and introduced in May 1914 costing 1/6, rising to 3/- in 1918, before falling to 2/6 in September 1921. It remained at this price until 1931 when it reverted to 1/6. The label colour was initially red, changing to magenta fairly early on. The catalogue series started in a G-6000 range, reaching G-9473 before changing to MR-1 in 1930. A few 12" Regals were issued in a G-1000 series. The label was taken over by EMI in 1932 as part of their purchase of Columbia, when they merged the two cheaper labels of Regal and Zonophone (see below), by which time the numbering had reached MR-744.
Regal Zonophone Regal Zonophone was the result of EMI's amalgamation of their two cheaper labels in January 1933, at which time the catalogue numbering was at MR-745. Initially there was a mixture of the last few Zonophone masters (in an 0Y-series), but generally the CAR-series started under Columbia's ownership was used right up until the label's demise in November 1949, by which time the catalogue numbers had reached MR-3819. Many American masters were used, initially from US Columbia, but later from Bluebird. Initially the label was a rather bright green and red, but subsequently the green was darkened (see example) and it was a very attractive label. In February 1935, the price was reduced to 1/- and the colour changed to just plain red with gold printing. As is usual with red labels, the gold printing was apt to wear off. The price increased to 1/3 in March 1937 then back up to 1/6 in September 1937.
Regent  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Regentone   Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Rena The Rena Manufacturing Company was formed in 1908 by Louis Sterling & N. M. Rodkinson. Rena records first appeared in December 1908, costing 1/- and manufactured by Columbia, using their own matrices. The label was gold-on-brown with a catalogue series starting at 1001. The Columbia matrix number was suppressed and only an R- or S- series control number shown. The design subsequently changed to gold-on-blue and in November 1909, Columbia took the company over, retaining the same design, and continuing the 1000-series catalogue numbering. In 1910, the label name changed to Columbia-Rena, the Rena name being dropped for good in 1915, the catalogue number having reached 2584 (the last Columbia-Rena issue).
Rex "The King Of Records" first appeared in September 1933. It was a quality record at a cheap price (1/-) produced by Crystalate. The catalogue series started at 8001, reaching over 10220 by February 1948 when the last ones appeared. An Irish series sported a suitably green label and a U-series catalogue. The matrix series started (for some reason) at F-500. American masters from ARC were liberally used, generally under pseudonyms such as Hollywood Dance Orchestra or Ed Lloyd and his Band (for dance records). Jay Wilbur was the studio director, but top name bands were also featured, such as Jack Payne, Charlie Kunz, Billy Cotton, Brian Lawrance and Jack Simpson. In March 1937, Decca took over Crystalate and the F- matrix series changed to R- with the same numbering.
Rexophone (sold in Australia)  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. also a label scan
Robeyphone Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Rondophone (sold in Australia)  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Rubin A German-produced label exported to Britain prior to WWI. There are two versions of the label, but the English-titled ones use a catalogue series in the E-100 range. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Savana Savana records were made for Rose, Morris and Company and appear to date, musically, from 1925-27. They were available in 5½", 6" & 10" sizes. The 10" use Crystalate (Imperial) masters and cost 2/- each. The others use (Edison) Bell masters or (again) Crystalate ones. The label designs were identical for all sizes. The 10" used a 1500 series catalogue, the smaller ones use a 3-digit number. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Scala Scala records first appeared in Britain in 1911, part of the cheap German import invasion which helped drive prices down at the time. They used mainly Beka masters at the time. Following the end of the war, Scala made a re-appearance using the design shown right; this time made in Britain and using masters from Gennett & Vocalion in America and home-produced masters with a CH-prefix. Only the CH- ones which are hand-scribed are genuine Scala matrices. If the number is type-stamped, it is a control number covering a master from English Vocalion. The label was discontinued in 1927 along with many other Vocalion-styled 10" records, when they decided to concentrate on 8" issues. The catalogue numbering started at 100 originally, and the same series used post-war, reaching nearly 900, though some early issues had a 1 in front of the normal catalogue number.
Scala Ideal This label was produced between 1923 and 1927 and the master pool is similar to the Grafton label (q.v.). Early issues use Federal and Emerson masters from America. Then subsequently, Pathe provided the source material. The catalogue numbers were in a 7000-series and there were just over 200 different records produced in the 4-year period. The records cost 1s 6d.
Siemens The was a one-off record to advertise SIemens' Opal and Pearl light bulbs. There's a certain amount of mystery about the record, but I would assume it was given away, probably at an exhibition. Although the record is not rare, I've never seen a copy in a special sleeve. The mystery is that it has a catalogue number, which you wouldn't expect for a special issue. The record is of the "unbreakable" format, probably made by Worldecho or Duophone (both q.v.). The band, however, has a Piccadilly label sound to it, so maybe it was a contract recording.
Silvertone Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Silvertone 8" An 8" record produced by British Homophone for sale in Selfridge's stores, using masters from their Plaza label. The label tells us they were specially selected by Christopher Stone. The records had a catalogue number series starting at S-1, but the series was fairly short-lived. In fact, I can only trace 3 records:   Cat No Matrix Titlle Artists S-1 L-989 L-997 Farewell To Arms A Thousand And One Nights Ben Fields and his Dance Band (Syd Lipton's Band) Charles Baxter's String Band S-2 L-985 L-1009 Da-Dar, Da-Dar (waltz) On My Mind Silver Dance Band (Syd Lipton's Grosvenor House Band) Eddie Walters' Dance Band (Nat Star's Dance Orchestra) S-3 L-1019 L-1031 Till The Clock Strikes Three Stormy Weather Eddie Walter's Dance Band (Oscar Rabin's Romany Bd) Silver Dance Band (Nat Star's Dance Orchestra) S-4       S-5
Simcha (GB) A short-lived label available in the early 1930s, Simcha drew its masters from Piccadilly, including some American Grey Gull items. Simcha is a Hebrew word meaning Joy or Gladness and is pronounced "Simka" (i.e. with the -ch- pronounced as a -K-.). The records were presumably made for a shop or store, but I don't know which one. The catalogue numbers are in a 10000-series and just over 50 were produced.  Click here for am attempted listing of this label.
Sirena Grand This was a Russian-produced label made for Export to Britain in and around WWI.
Smith A very obscure regional label dating from the WWI period. The labels of "Smith" records are subtitled "The Phono King" and hence probably refers to an early record shop. The address on the label is 262, Bramall Lane & Sheaf Market, Sheffield. They were pressed from Grammavox masters and had not catalogue numbers, just using the matrix numbers to refer to each side in a similar manner to German records of the period. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Solex British Homophone made Solex records. They were initially an 8" disc with a very fine groove, allowing playing time equal to a 10" disc, without getting too near the label. Solex was BH's first 8" disc, being available in 1930 & 1931. Catalogue numbers started logically at 1 and ran to about 70. In 1935, BH revivied the name for a short-lived 10" disc with a catalogue series starting at SX-101. Click here for an (still incomplete) listing of this label.
Soundwave One of the many pre-WWI labels pressed in Germany for the British market using masters from J. Blum & Co and possibly Polyphon.  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Sovereign A very short-lived and early disc record which appeared in 1907 for a few months, Sovereign were 10" double-sided and used Nicole masters. The labels state they were made by the British Sonogram Company. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Standard A rather obscure pre-WWI record label. In fact, there may be two labels, but I don't know if there is any link between them. One was pressed by Edison Bell using their "Bell" masters and the other was a product of the Sound Recording Company. Both companies were using 10¼" masters at the time. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Standard Stavophone A cheap record (costing 1/1) produced by the Sound Recording Co in 1913. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Stars The Stars Record was a pre-WWI record made in Germany which used Polyphon masters. Sometimes the label is just a "paste-over" on existing Polyphon or Heraldic records. The reference on the label to "Star artists" may be the first reference to the word "Star" meaning "celebrity". Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Stella Yet another pre-WWI record. This one was produced by the German Kalliope company and, jusging by surviving examples, the company must have run into copyright problems and it is rare to find an Stella-Gramophone Record (to give it its full name) which hasn't been "amended". Some have the word "Gramophone" scratched out, and other have a label printed with "Victory" stuck over the word "Stella". The catalogue numbers have various prefixes, such as A- and C-, followed by a 1, 2 or 3-digit number. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Sterno Sterno records were produced by the British Homophone Company between 1926 and 1935 as a cheaper equivalent of their Homochord label. The first Sternos are very rare and were recorded & produced by the Gramophone Company to a very high standard. Subsequent records were recorded by BH Co for Sterno and vary enormously in recording quality and surface noise. Almost all used British masters, and later many good dance bands recorded for Sterno, but they sold poorly. More details and pictures and a listing
Sterno Baby A 6" disc produced by the Gramophone Company in the mid-1920s, using the same masters as "Homo Baby" and "Dixy". Sterno Baby is somewhat rarer than either, with a catalogue series in a 1000 range.