[78-L] 78 sleeves--was:Inner sleeves

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "DAVID BURNHAM" <burnhamd at rogers.com>
> Like many of us, I was around and aware of record developments when the LP 
> was introduced. I think what we're dealing with here is not the 
> introduction of the inner sleeve but the outer sleeve. Most 78s were sold 
> in a generic paper sleeve, (although some had an envelope with the record 
> information on it, especially kid's records) and the first LPs were sold 
> in envelopes which were slightly more sturdy with the record's contents 
> described. In the mid-fifties the cardboard outer sleeve came into common 
> use.
>
This starts a whole NEW train of thought...at least for me!

78's first came in label-specific sleeves (AFAIK!) c.1910. Columbia seems
to have started this (which is in a way unfortunate, because early Columbia
sleeves use a heavier paper stock that seems to self-destruct...?!). Victor
quickly followed suit...and Edison used sleeves which were specific to the
disc they contained! Oddly enough, I don't recall offhand having seen
label-specific sleeves for the various "patent evader labels" of 1903-09...
nor for the several vertical-cut labels pre-1919!

During the next era (1919-1929), there were several hundred "indie"
78 labels...only a few of which bothered to print label-specific sleeves!
However, where label-specific sleeves did appear (most notably
Emerson) they often list other issues of that period, and can thus be
used to compile label listings.

In the thirties, the number of 78 labels decreased substantially...but
most of the "survivors" used label-specific sleeves. Label numbers
increased from c.1938 onward...but many of the "indie" labels of
the forties and fifties didn't bother having sleeves printed...!

Sometime probably around 1950, something new appeared...
"picture sleeves" for specific records! It is difficult to date these
exactly, since some picture-sleeved records (i.e. "Rudolph...")
were first issued around 1941, but were sold in numbers over
ensuing postwar years! However, these became common for
the 45's during the fifties...and some of these were duplicated
in larger form for the related 78 issues. Note that Bell, who
issued a line of 7" 78's, had specific sleeves for each issued
record...!

This leaves a few unanswered (at least by me?!) questions...!

(1) When were the VERY first label-branded 78 sleeves issued,
and by whom?

(2) Were any record-specific sleeves used before the post-WWII
period? I know there was a coloured Columbia sleeve issued in
the late twenties, which is often assumed (rightly? wrongly?) to have
been specific to the "picture-label" Columbia 78's issued in that era?!

(3) Are any label-specific sleeves known for labels of fabled rarity
(Black Patti, usw.)? What other sleeves would attract colletor
interest regardless of their (if any) contents?

...stevenc