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
Kalliope Kalliope (pronounced Kal-eye-oh-pee) were originally made in Germany for local consumption, where they were successful for 30 years. The British equivalent was not so successful, however. It was introduced in 1913 by the Anchor Gramophone Company and cost 1/- (5p). The catalogue numbers were in a 6000-series and masters were derived from German Anker & Kalliope. The label ceased production with the outbreak of war in 1914. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Kalophone (sold in Australia) These were made by English Beka (for export to Australia) during 1913 & 1914.  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan.
Keith Prowse Keith Prowse was a music publisher trading at 159, New Bond Street, London. In 1927, they produced 3 records (catalogue numbers K-101 to K-103) using Gennett & Vocalion masters from America, & costing 3/- each. A complete listing follows! K-101   GEX-481  Make Me Know It            Jelly James and his Fewsicians K-101   GEX-482  Georgia Bo Bo                        ditto K-102   GEX-513  I've Found A New Baby   Andy Preer and the Cotton Club Orch K-102   GEX-521  Come Day, Go Day          Ross Gorman and his Fire-Eaters K-103   C-796       Wild Man Blues              Johnny Dodds' Black Bottom Stompers K-103   C-799       Melancholy                            ditto
Key These records were made for Selfridges  during 1933 & 34. The selections were chosen by Christopher Stone (usually referred to as Britain's first "disc jockey") and were pressed by Decca using masters also available on Panachord and Winner. The catalogue was quite a small one running from S-600 to about S-630 and artists were generally cloaked in pseudonyms. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Kiddyphone Obviously aimed at the younger people, these records were produced by Crystalate from about 1924 to 1930. They were initially 7" in diameter, before being reduced to 5½", then subsequently enlarged to 6". Most recordings were made specifically for the smaller size, but some were edited dubs of standard 10" Imperial issues. Most of the dance records were issued as Kiddyphone Dance Orchestra, though a few later items were, amazingly, correctly labelled "J. Wilbur's Band".
Kildare Kildare was the name that some late Vocalion records were sold under. The labels have a sticker with the "Kildare" name stuck over the "Vocalion" name on the label. They are usually the B-200 series Vocalions. In fact, it is extremely rare to find one without the Kildare sticker (or the remains of one) implying that there may have been legal reasons why the Vocalion name could no longer be used for these records.
Klingsor These were manufactured in 1912 for the British market, by Polyphon in Germany.
Kodak This was a Vocalion product from the early 1920s, made  for the Kodak Camera Company. The catalogue ran from Z-600 but it was only a short-lived label. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Leader This was a pre-Great War label which was sold on the tally-man system (see "John Bull"). The masters came from various companies including Nicole and Bel Canto and included the usual popular fare of the period such as Billy Williams and Collins and Harlan. The catalogue (or serial) numbers were in a 600-series.     Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Levaphone Levy's of 139 Whitechapel High Street, London were famous amongst jazz record collectors for making many rare American Jazz item available both through their own labels and their importing service. There were two Levaphone series, the first ran from A-101 to A-103 issuing items from American Vocalion (see scan); the second in an L-100 series issued American Pathe material (but seemed to concentrate on Cliff Edwards recordings).
Lewis The name gives it away here. These were sold by Lewis's Department Stores between 1933 and 1935. The Lewis's Long Life Record (to give it it's full name) was an 8" record made by British Homophone Ltd, using masters from it's 8" Plaza label. The records were in an L-1 series running to about L-90.   Click here for a listing of this label.
Lido A black celluloid flexible record dating to 1931, Lido was produced by the Goodson Record Company, using masters also available on Goodson. Lido records are extemely rare, however, as well as being very short-lived; the catalogue started at B-1 and only ran to about B-20 before Goodson records went into liquidation.
Lilliput  A very early 6" disc produced by Homophon in Germany during 1906.
Lily Of The Valley  A European export to Australia and sold by WcWhirter's of Brisbane. The earliest examples were pressed probably by Homophon in Germany (pre-WWI), then subsequently paste-over labels on Winner and, later, Columbia were used.  Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Little Briton One of many Edison Bell products available in the early 1920s, Little Briton was another 5½" disk (actually a little smaller) similar to "Bell", though very much rarer. The scan here is of the only one I have seen and it shows a 3-digit catalogue, the extent of which is currently unknown.
Little Champion Unlike all the other "Liitle" record labels, this wasn't so little, but was a 9" disc, manufactured by Edison Bell in 1910-11, with a vertical cut groove. The catalogue was in a 3000 series.
Little Gem This was 6" disc made by Vocalion in the 1920s using masters also available on "Little Marvel" (see below).
Little Marvel A sixpenny disc produced by Vocalion for sale in Woolworth's, Little Marvels were very successful, judging by how many have survived the intervening years. Initially 5½" in size, later increasing to 6", there were no catalogue numbers on the first ones, but later an 1000-series was used which ran for just under 200 issues. The label was introduced in 1921 and withdrawn in 1928. The artists are anonymous, the label just describing the type of music.
Little Popular Produced by Crystalate (Sound Recording Company), these 5½" records were only available for a short time around 1921. The catalogue series was in a P-500 series and about a hundred records were issued and sold for 1/- (5p) each.
Ludgate Produced by Vocalion for Dollond & Atchison, Ludgate records utilize the usual mix of Aco, Vocalion (UK & US) and Emerson masters dating between 1921 and 1926. There was more than one catalogue range, but the popular items started at 6001 and may not have reached 6150. The more "serious" items used a 3-digit catalogue in the 600-range. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Lyceum One of the many cheap pre-WWI labels, Lyceum first appeared in 1913, pressed in Germany from Beka masters (using an 01-series catalogue), but reverting to England (using an 02000-series catalogue) fairly soon after, probably with the onset of the war. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Lyric Made by the German Kalliope company, these were another of the cheap labels which flooded the market just prior to the Great War. Masters were sourced from (among others) Favourite. Some Lyric records have been reported as been paste-over labels on Polyphons. The Catalogue was a 3-digit number.   Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Lyricphone A rare Pre-WWI label which is reported as having the same numbering as Beka-Grand. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Lyrophon A German label launched in 1904, but not arriving in Britain until about 1907, and then only briefly. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Marathon A very early long-playing record, Marathon were available from 1912 to 1915. They were the invention on Percy J. Packman who hit on the idea of a v-shaped vertical-cut groove which allowed a very fine pitch to be used while still maintaining 80 r.p.m, which gave 5-minutes of playing time on a 10" disc and 8 minutes on a 12". Labels were grey with black and white printing and an inorinate amount of information printed on the sleeve. About 400 different records were issued.
Marspen These 5½" and 6" discs were sold by branches of Marks & Spencer (hence the name) in the mid-1920s. The pressings were done variously by Edison Bell (catalogue 600 upwards) and Crystalate (catalogue 250 upwards) using masters from their equivalent labels (Bell and Mimosa), though some of the Crystalate-produced ones have a special matrix series starting MS-01 which is thought to be specially for Marspen (though some at least can be found on Mimosa issues).
May-Fair May Fair records were available between 1931 and 1933 and were not sold in the usual manner, but exchanged for Ardath cigarette coupons. The records were pressed by Brunswick and Piccadilly and some labels show that they were selected by the ubiquitous Christopher Stone. The catalogue series are in a G-2000 range which, on reaching about 2262, drops the first digit, finally reaching about G-360 before Ardath withdrew the offer and disappeared from the market themselves soon after. (Some records have prefix letters other than G- but the reason behind this is not known). It is believed that Selfridges bought up the unused stock in 1933 and sold them in their department stores.Click here for More label scans and a plea for help
Melba Melba records were made by the Metropole Gramophone Co using matrices also available on Metropole and/or Piccadilly. The reason for the label's existence is not yet known and the very plain label gives no clues. The catalogue numbers are in an 1000- series running (probably) from 1001 to about 1070. My thanks to Charles Hippisley-Cox for the label scan.
Mellotone (sold in Australia) A 6" disc pressed by Crystalate using Mimosa / Kiddyphone masters which was made in England in the 1920s, but only made available in Australia.
Melograph There is reported to be two distinct Melograph records, both from the pre-WWI period. One was manufactured in Liverpool in about 1907, and one is an all-German product of probably a year or two later.    Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records, apart from the illustrated one. Thanks to Ian McPherson for the picture of the label. Click here for my rather paltry list of this label.
Meloto Meloto are much better known for their piano-roll production than their records which were pressed for them by Vocalion at some point during the 1920s, The catalogue ran from S-1001 up to about S-1800 and included recordings from 1920 to about 1927. The label design remained the same throughout.
Metropole First appearing in April 1928, Metropole records were 3/- (15p) each, but tended to have strange couplings such as a dance title on one side and a glee club on the other! The catalogue numbering started at 1001 and ran to over 1300 before being withdrawn. Matrix numbers were initially in an M-1 series, but these were soon dropped and the label just became an outlet (albeit an very expensive one) for Piccadilly masters, though to start with there were a number of occasions where the Metropole and Piccadilly recordings of the same popular numbers were by different artists. Metropole also took part in a fund-raising campaign for private hospitals. A selection of records were made available for 2/6. There was a ballot and competitors have to estimate the popularity of the record on the list. The first winner (Major J Reynolds or Kelvedon, Essex) won £1000 (a lot of money in those days).
MGM MGM is a rather new label to include here, but why not! In Britain it was an EMI label and mainly issued soundtrack recordings from Hollywood musicals along with a mixture of mainstream jazz and light orchestral music. The label was introduced in the 1950s and survived into the 1970s, though, obviously by then, was no longer a 78 rpm disc.
Mignon A 6" German-produced disc  from 1912. The catalogue numbers were in a D-1 series and the label was very short-lived.
Millophone These were produced for a Mr. Mills from 1908 to about 1911, who ran the Millophone Record Company at 64, Bishopsgate, London. Initially, the label was just "Millophone" and Nicole masters were used. Then the name became "Millophone New Record" and later "Millophone New Celebrity Record". Both the last styles used Edison Bell masters. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan.
Mimosa Crystalate's most popular "baby" record was introduced in 1921 as a 5½" single sided disc with an M-100 series numbering system. Soon becoming double sided with a P-1 series catalogue, these records sold for 6d at Woolworth's. They always had a non-copyright title on one side, to save on costs. Having reached about P-240, the size was increased to 6" and, confusingly, the catalogue started at P-1 again! This reached about P-240 (again) before being withdrawn in 1928 in favour of the new 7" Victory record. Matrix numbers were generally in an E-series (apart from some MS-01 range ones - see Marspen records), but there are some A-01 series ones which are (usually) edited dubs from American masters (from Banner). Click here for more details, Label scans and a plea for information!
Minstrel Similar to "Herald" records, "Minstrel" were produced by Edison Bell for a Mr. Pidgeon of New Zealand from 1913.   Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Musogram Musogram "Long Playing Record" was another brainchild of Percy Packman (see "Marathon". These actually pre-date Marathan, as they first appeared in 1909. They were vertical-cut with a fine U-shaped groove giving an extended plating time. The following year came Musogram "Living Record" which has a coarser groove rather like Pathe discs.
Musola (sold in Australia) A close relative of "Phoneto", Musola appeared in 1917. They were pressed by Crystalate from Guardsman masters amd exported to Australia.  A label scan would be welcome.