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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 just part of a range of goods which were available for exchange with Ardath coupons. There were also May-Fair cameras and May-Fair gramophones available as coupon items. The records were pressed by Warner-Brunswick, Decca and Piccadilly and some later labels show that they were selected by the ubiquitous "first disc-jockey" 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, disappearing from the market themselves soon after. It is believed that Selfridges bought up the unused stock in 1933 and sold them in their department stores.  Some records have prefix letters other than "G" but the reason behind this is not known, though the WB ones obviously stand for Warner Brunswick, and often these issues have the G-prefix on one side and the WB-prefix on the other. Some issues have no prefix at all. The music was unashamedly popular. Most of the Brunswick-style pressings were also available on the Panachord label, and the majority are American recordings. All were issued under a bewildering mix of pseudonyms.  All the Piccadilly pressings were also available on the Piccadilly label and are usually British recordings, with a few American ones (from ARC/Plaza). Some were issued under pseudonyms, but there were some where the artists were correctly labelled. If you have any of these records, then please check them against the listing below in case you can add to the information I have.

Type 1 label - Warner-Brunswick pressing Type 2 label - Piccadilly Pressing Type 3 label - Brunswick pressing with "Christopher Stone"wording

Finally, here is a listing of the label. My apologies to those who sent me details to fill in the gaps previously. I appear to have been very incompetent and lost not only the original emails, but also the ones I sent on to Arthur Badrock, and I haven't found anything in Arthur's paperwork. So if you have any details to fill in the gaps, please to send it to me (again?) and I can update the listing directly.

The majority of May-Fair records were previously issued on other British labels, often from American masters. In the "notes" column I will show the original British issue (Dec = Decca, EBW = Edison Bell Winner, Pan = Pan ; Pic = Piccadilly) and the US issue (Ban = Banner, Br = Brunswick, Mt = Melotone) where appropriate.

This listing has been compiled from the late Arthur Badrock's data. Arthur acknowledges the following for their help: Frank Dutton, Pat Malham, Ivan Simpson, Peter Seago, Harold Sheffield, Derek Spruce, Bert Whyatt, Jim Hayes & Johnny Hobbs.

Please email me if you can add to the listing. I haven't yet checked all the ARC bands to correct which are by which band. I thought I'd get the listing up online first.

Thank you to the following who have sent me extra information: Geoff Amabilino, Anton Bieber, Terry Brown, Fred Castle, Bill Dean-Myatt, Richard Gregory, Mike Langridge, Ian McPherson, Chrisann Meij, Richard Prout, Jeff Smallcombe, Michael Taylor

page last updated: September 22, 2023

The details of the following anomaly were sent to me by Terry Brown, along with a scan of the label. I also have it listed as G-2068. Confirmation of it appearing as G-2068 would be useful (my own copy is G-68).