[78-L] Blues and Greys...

[Michael Biel]

Columbia and Allied blue pressings are laminated, of course.  Are the 
blue Decca and Victors discussed here on solid shellac or are they 
laminated?  Last year I came across a film from the early 30s that 
showed the pressing of Columbia laminated discs and was absolutely 
flabbergasted to see that the two outer surfaces were flat sheets and 
that it was the inner core that was a biscuit.  I had always thought it 
was the opposite.  For example, Edison Diamond Discs were made on 
"powder blanks" which were the previously formed center core, and then 
the condensite surface was brushed on as a liquid.  I would have thought 
that the Columbias were made on a similar pre-formed center core with a 
biscuit of fine shellac above and below the core.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 



Mark Hendrix 78L wrote:
> Taylor Bowie asked,
>
>   
>> On a related subject...what's with those sort of bluish and greyish
>> Brunswicks from 1936-37?  Were they using up some diluted old blue stuff?
>>     
>
> Taylor, here are some posts relevant to this question I've saved from some
> years ago on this list:
>
> "When Allied took over the old Columbia west coast plant, there were
> either blue blanks or blue compound left over, which they seem to
> have used for two or three years. As a result, their pressings, most
> notably MacGregor transcriptions (and items like Hollywood Hot Shots)
> can be found on blue or bluish records.
> Reference to http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/oakland.htm may hold the
> clue. Both Victor and Columbia established pressing plants in Oakland,
> California, in the 1920's.
>
> "It is conceivable that workers from each plant knew each other --
> Oakland is not a large city, as cities go. For example, a press
> operator from the Victor plant may have been gotten a Columbia blue
> wax "blank" by his equal across town so he could surreptitiously press
> his own "blue wax Victors" for personal use, or just for the fun of it
> (blue waxers are certainly pretty, for sure, nicer than the boring
> black of Victors.)
>
> "Of course, I've only heard about the "blue wax Victors" anecdotally.
> Anyone here seen one or have more reliable information?
>
> "The first mention I heard about the blue wax Victors (almost twenty
> years ago so I may have forgotten some of the details) came from
> Charles Bostwick, a long-time record and movie collector in the Bay
> Area (George Morrow's core collection was bought from Chuck's
> collection -- Chuck sold all his electrical recordings to George.)
>
> "As Chuck explained to me, right after WWII, he visited the old
> Columbia pressing plant, and at the time they were selling out old
> stock they had lying around. This included *hundreds* of brand new
> American Odeon and Parlophone pressings from 1929/30 in their
> original sleeves (George Morrow later showed me the Bostwick American
> Odeon and Parlophones that Chuck had personally kept.) Chuck snapped
> up as many of them as he could afford at the time, the rest of which
> were apparently scrapped (he claimed to me that nearly all the mint
> American Odeon and Parlophones now floating around among collectors
> came from his purchase, including many that were never sold in record
> shops, that is, they were "pressed but unissued".) At the same time he
> told me the above information, he mentioned the existence of "blue wax
> Victors" apparently related to the Oakland pressing plant -- I don't
> recall if he actually saw one himself.
>
> "(If Chuck or a friend of his is monitoring this group, hopefully he
> can correct if I got any of the facts garbled -- as noted above, it's
> been almost twenty years since I last talked with Chuck.)
>
> "Again, anyone here know for sure on the existence of "blue wax
> Victors"?"
>
> Jon Noring
>
> AND...
>
> Date: 10-17-04 22:12
>
>   
>> Blue Brunswicks and Vocalions have been mentioned on this list a
>> couple of times. Were these only from the West Coast plant?
>>     
>
> "Think so - the ones I have all have the inner label ring seen on West Coast
> pressings. I have two Blue Shellac Melotones, too. And of course some
> MacGregor & Sollie pressings. And a fellow collector once showed me a Chick
> Webb sunburst Decca on bright blue shellac - gorgeous to look at! BTW, my
> latest East Coast Blue Wax pressing is 3105-D. My latest West Coast Blue Wax
> is 3131-D" David Weiner
>
> --Mark Hendrix
>
>
>
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