labelindexT-Z

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.

Label	Label Photo
Teledisk Teledisk were custom record makers, offering to record you for a small sum, for which you would receive a small number of the recordings, double-sided and pressed on standard shellac. To be honest, the quality of the recording and pressing varied considerably and some are really dreadful. The labels were either blue or red (as picture here) depending usually on the type of fare being offered. The records date from 1934-35 and are, as you'd expect, extremely rare. The company was at Crewdson Road, London SW9.
Tip Top Thus was a paste-over label of 1919 vintage which was an attempt to sell off old stock of Winner records. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for providing the label photo.
Tower Dating from the early 1920s, Tower records was a Vocalion product, using often old masters previous issued on Vocalion or one of their other subsidiary labels. Masters also came from Gennett (in America) and the catalogue number was in a 100-series (for 10") and 2000-series for 12".
Triumph On of the many pre-WWi budget labels pressed in Germany, Triumph records were issued in a 20000-series catalogue, and continued into the wartime period, though now pressed in Britain and with a 400-series catalogue. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for providing the label photos.
Trusound One of the earliest flexible picture discs, Trusound date from the early 1930s and are extremely rare today, and even when they turn up, they are often unplayable. There seem to be about 50 different records, but in various catalogue series such as T-1-, A-600-, A-1000- and 8500-.
Turmaphon A German-pressed record of the pre-WWI era, but aimed at the British market, though there was a German version briefly. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Thanks to Ray Stephenson for the first label photo; this is a German version of the label. The second one is a British Turmaphon, thanks to Michael Gunrem for the scan.
Twin When the Gramophone Company decided to embark on producing double-sided records in 1908, rather than risk their reputation on producing double-sided HMV records, they decided to launch a new label called "Twin". Casting 2/6, the records used existing single-sided Zonophone masters to start with, until, in 1911, with the catalogue reaching about 600 (having started from 1), the two were combined and the double-sided Zonophone-Twin label became the Gramophone company's secondary label.
Unicorn A paste-over label dating from pre-WWI and extremely rare. It is not certain what records are pasted over, but Coliseum has been suggested. The example shown right doesn't look like a pasted-over label to me, however. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for providing the label photo.
Unison Unison records were sold by the Co-Operative society ("The Co-Op") during the later half of the 1920s. They were pressed by Vocalion and duplicate exactly their 8" and 9" Broadcast records, even to the pseudonyms (with only a couple of exception).
Universal There were three records of this name. The first was a 7" disc dating from about 1907. It was made by the Disc Record company of Harrow and used Nicole masters, being made of the same sort of material as Nicole records (a scan of an example would be appreciated) The second label, actually "Universal Double Disc" was manufactured by Homophone for the Australian market prior to WWI, sometimes the label is just a paste-over. The catalogue ran from 8000 to just over 8400. (See first example). The third label, just "Universal Record", may only have been sold in Australia as well. Again, pressed by Homophon in Germany prior to WWI, it had a 2000- catalogue series (see second example). Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Thanks to Adam Miller and Bill Dean-Myatt for providing the label scans.
Up-To-Date This extemely rare label was a German-produced one from pre-WWI using Dacapo masters and with an E-100 series catalogue. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a colour label scan.
Valkyrie This was an British-pressed record dating from pre-1920 and produced for Catesby's Limited for sale in their London department store. The records used Jumbo or Beka masters and the catalogue ran from 1 to over 1000, some of the later ones having a D- or E- prefix. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Velvet Face Produced by Edison Bell (J. E Hough), this was supposed to be a superior product when compared to the cheaper "Winner" label. Velvet Face first appeared during WWI briefly, then re-emerged in 1922 lasting until about 1926. Although popular music could be found on this label, it concentrated on classical and concert artists.
Venus Following the last Jumbo record in 1919, the label name was changed to "Venus" and the catalogue series followed on as well, from 1580 and ran well into the 1600s as well as using the A-series also found on Jumbo. Like Jumbo, the records were produced by Hertfordshire's Mead Works and used Beka masters.
Vesper Dating from just post WWI, this record was made by Crystalete, probably for religious music publishers, Morgan & Scott Ltd.
Victory One of many pre-WWI labels.
Victory 7" Victory 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. Click here for more..
Viel-O-Phone An Edison Bell product produced for sale abroad, this time in India. Thanks to Rainer Lotz for the label scan.
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. Here is an attempt to list some of the series (more to come in the future).
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 there were less than 100. Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for providing the label photo.
Warroner The record was named after Warroners Ltd who distributed the record. It first appeared in 1915, specialising in music by the Garde Republicaine Band.
Wendy (sold in Australia) Another British product for the Australian market, Wendy records were 5½" records produced by Vocalion from their "Little Marvel" masters. Thanks to Adam Miller for providing the label scan.
Westport Curry's, the famous Cycle makers, were masters at selling off old stock of other record companies. Westport was a paste-over label over old-stock Imperial and Winner records. The Winner paste-overs carry forward the same band names, whether true or pseudonyms, but the Imperial ones don't seem to. The "Catalogue" number ranges appear to be various and do not match the original records under the labels.
Whitehall These records date from about 1911-12. They were sold by Largs & Sons of 18-24 Whitehall Street, Dundee and used masters from Beka. The catalogue numbers were in an L-1 series. Details of L-1, L-2, L-3, L-5, L-7 are known. These records are extremely rare, so if anyone can provide details of any other issues, I would be very grateful if they could email me. Thanks to Bill Dean-Myatt for the information and label scan.
Whiteheads We're back in "Paste-over" country here. Whiteheads were a well-known department store in Bolton and their label was pasted over Duophone unbreakable records from the late 1920s. The details and catalogue numbers matched the original Duophones. Whiteheads survived the label by many years, and only closed in 2006 after trading for 141 years. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Whiteley Whiteley's were a department store in London (Queen's Road, Bayswater). In about 1912, they started stocking their own records, which were oversized (10½") and pressed from Grammavox masters. There were about 150 pairs of titles in a catalogue series running from W-1. Click here for a partial listing; much more information required!
Whytsdale A rare very early label which used Nicole masters and a catalogue series in the 300- range. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan
Winner Launched in 1912, Winner was produced by J. E. Hough (The Edison Bell Co) and was a standard-sized 10" record. Many of the company's previously issued "Bell" master were used to start with. "Winner", being British manufactured, was a reaction to the cheap German imports which flooded the market just before WWI. The quality was very good, except occasionally during the war, when cheaper material and poor pressings dogged the label. At the demise of Hough's company in 1933, the label was taken on by Decca and survived until late 1934.
World "World" was eccentric inventor Noel Pemberton-Billing's attempt to improve recording quality and extend the playing time of records generally. On a normal record, the actual velocity that the needle is travelling along the groove has reduced considerably, and the sound quality reduces likewise, towards the end of the side. By making a record where this doesn't happen (where the rotational speed of the disc increases gradually), he not only removed this problem, but also increased the playing time of the record. The problems were many: No top-line artists; the records were expensive; you needed a special gadget to play them at the right speed. They only survived for a few years in the mid-1920s. They are rare anywhere, but copies turn up in Australia, suggesting they were sold in both countries.
Worldecho Worldecho were a record of the "unbreakable" type, like Duophones, bring made of a central core of card, with a layer of a plastic-type material on to, for the playing surface. The records cost 1/3 and were available from 1929-1930. They suffer from the same problem of break-up and disintegration as Duophones and are probably quite a bit rarer. The catalogue was in an A-1000 series and ran to about A-1042. Then a new B-1000 series was introduced at 2/-, made of standard shellac and with a label that resembled America's "Van Dyke". This series was even shorter-lived, running for about 20 issues. Click here for a (not quite) complete listing of this label
Wykes Blue Seal Possibly associated with record dealer R. P. Wykes of Northampton. Any further information, examples or a scan would be gratefully received.
Zonophone Originally an American company, the Zonophone name was bought by the Gramophone Company in 1903 and they started issuing single-sided 5½", 7", 10" and 12" discs. In 1913, the name was applied to the double-sided records which had been called "Twin" and both names appeared on the label for some years. In 1932, when Columbia & the Gramophone Company were merged to form EMI, Zonophone was once again paired with an existing label and Regal-Zonophone was born. This survived until 1948. The name was revived in the 1960s (by EMI).