The
Recording Angel Trademark
The
Recording Angel trademark was designed
by Theodore Birnbaum, Managing Director
of the Berlin branch of the Gramophone
Company, in 1898, and was accepted by
William Barry Owen, Managing Director
of the entire company, in early June
of that year. It was used on London
Berliner issues as early as January
1899 (see illustrations above under
Pre-Label or Berliner Labels.)
The tademark used on paper labels shows
certain differences in appearance from
that used for the reverse of the issued
record, due chiefly to the difference
in size. That on the left below was
used on the reverses of Berliner discs
as early as March 1901, just before
Fred Gaisberg left London for St. Petersburg.
The Angel trademark shown on the right
below is found on both 10- and 12-inch
Schallplatte discs, but not on all of
them.
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GRAMOPHONE
reverse
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GRAMMOPHON
reverse
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The
Recording Angel trademark on the left
below was used on the reverse of 7-,
10-, and later also 12-inch discs. Early
in 1903 the Victor Company began to
issue a series of some 83 Gramophone
& Typewriter recordings, with catalog
numbers from 5000 to 5127. In October
1903 67 of these recordings, plus another
24 imports, were reissued in the 91000
series. All of these issues have the
Angel trademark on the reverse as shown
on the right below. Note that the two
forms used by G&T and the Victor
company are quite different.
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Gramophone
& Typewriter
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Victor
Talking Machine
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trademark on label
In
a letter of June 28, 1901, in anticipation
of the soon to be released 10-inch recordings,
Theodore Birnbaum remarked to Owen,
"We note your remarks re large
records and think your decision is a
wise one. Shall we not, however, adhere
to the plan of labeling the large records
with a gold label and inscribe the same
"Gramophone Concert Record manufactured
by . . . etc., etc,?" Owen’s reply
on July 2 was "We like the words
Gramophone Concert Record very much.
I think the label suggested is the one
that should be used."
The
first Gramophone Company labels discs
were black with gold lettering, and
measured 95 to 110 mm. for 10-inch discs
and about 75 mm for 7-inch discs in
overall diameter. The basic design,
shown above as of November 1901, showed
the phrase GRAMOPHONE RECORD
or GRAMOPHONE CONCERT RECORD in
an arc above the Recording Angel trademark
on 7- and 10-inch discs, respectively.
Below the trademark and above the spindle
whole was the company designation, "Manufactured
by
The
Gramophone and Typewriter, Ltd., and
Sister Companies." As
noted elsewhere, the first labels printed
for the Hanover plant had the raised
"The"
variant on both 7- and 10-inch labels.
The
Gramophone & Typewriter Period
The
Angel label period (1900–1909) can be
divided into two major groups. The Gramophone
Company was incorporated in England
on August 23, 1899 as a limited company,
renamed the Gramophone & Typewriter,
Limited on December 10, 1900, and the
Gramophone Company, Limited again on
November 18, 1907. From December 10,
1900 to November 18, 1907 is the Gramophone
& Typewriter, or G&T period.
From the latter date to February 1909
is the so-called "pre-DOG,"
or GCL period. Both usually have
gold letters. Labels of these two periods
are usually named G&T and
GCL, respectively, from the initials
of the company designations, viz., Gramophone
& Typewriter and Gramophone
Company, Limited.
In
October 1901 the Hanover plant manufactured
24,526 ten-inch records, approximately
800 per day, which were introduced as
the first Gramophone Concert Records
at the end of November 1901. They were
pressed with black labels about 107
mm in overall diameter printed in gold,
and carried the Recording Angel trademark.
The black label remained in used throughout
the acoustical era in one form or another.
These issued discs may have included
the series of nine recordings made by
Maurice Renaud in September 1901.
The
seven-inch Gramophone Record 43302,
shown on the left below, was issued
early in 1903. Bennett lists seven-inch
discs as late as December 1905, while
Kelly indicates that Franz Hampe was
still making seven-inch recordings as
late as May 1909 in Tiflis, Georgia,
Russia. The ten-inch Gramophone Record
G.C.-23360 in the center below was recorded
in Warsaw in 1902. The twelve-inch Gramophone
Monarch Record 052132, shown at the
right, was recorded in Milan in October
1906. All three labels are of the G&T
design, and show "TRADE"
and "MARK"
narrowly spaced, as seen on early issues.
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Figure
III.A.1.
7-inch
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Figure
III.A.2.
10-inch
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Figure
III.A.3.
12-inch
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The
language or country and the vocal range
or instrument were printed to the left
and right of the central hole, respectively.
Below these were the title of the selection,
including the large composition, e.g.,
opera, if necessary, the name of the
artist(s), and usually the place where
the recording was made. At the very
bottom of the label was the catalog
number. Variations during this early
period involve mainly font types and
sizes, as well as spacing of various
parts of the lettering. (Author’s note:
Since these first labels were printed
in Berlin, the printers probably used
Germanic rather than English fonts.
A family of four fonts was designed
in the last decade of the nineteenth
century by a renowned painter and graphic
artist, Otto Eckmann. Of the four fonts
designed by him, I have chosen Eckmann
as
representative of the font used for
the company designation.)
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January
24, 1902 |
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Note
the raised "The" variants
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Recorded
November 21, 1903
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recorded
in late 1906
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The
pressing on the left above is from stamper
IIII, manufactured before February
19, 1903. The disc on the right is from
stamper XI, probably made after
October 1906, when the Red Celebrity
label was replaced by the pink one shown,
but before November 1907, when the company’s
name reverted to the Gramophone Company,
Limited. The recording on the left below
was made in New York on March 17, 1901,
while that on the right was recorded
on February 7, 1908.
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G&T
Monarch label, pale green
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GCL
Monarch label, pale blue
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The
Monarch designation for twelve-inch
discs was used on G&T and GCL labels
from about June 1903 to February 1909,
and on HMV labels from that date to
August 1910, and even as late as 1924.
The Recording Angel trademark occupied
the upper half of the label, with the
company designation (see below) just
below it.
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G&T
Monarch Red Celebrity labels
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The
Sammarco and Marconi recordings with
matrix numbers CON 707 and CON
722, respectively, were recorded
by Will Gaisberg during his extended
recording session in Milan in October
1903. This followed his brother Fred’s
return from the first Far East tour.
