[78-L] Blue wax Columbia date??

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Harkin" <harkinmike at yahoo.com>
>> From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Blue wax Columbia date??
>> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 9:20 PM
>> The matrix numbers aren't in
>> Spottswood but 206384 was recorded c. November
>> 1930. 82001F IS listed but with no matrix numbers, and
>> recorded in Chicago c.
>> December 1929. Pretty slow year for ethnic twelve-inchers.
>> 82002/4F aren't
>> listed..maybe they're dubbed from foreign matrices.
>> Blue Wax pressings were made from 1932 to 1934, right?
>
> At _least_ 1934; I have a xerox from the Denver Library from when I lived 
> there of a 1934 Columbia catalogue, touting "Columbia Royal Blue Records,"
> inclusive date through November....
>
Well, Columbia basically went broke in mid-1934, and was picked up by ARC 
for
$70,000...matrices, rights and all! The company had been picked up by 
Grigsby-
Grunow, the makers of Majestic radios...but there was a VERY limited market
for both records and upscale radios in mid-depression times...!

AFAIK, Columbia "died" in the late summer of 1934, and their 15#### matrix
series stopped dead; ARC switched to the series started by Plaza at 5001,
which was at around 15xxx. I suspect DL can give us more detail, since he
owns the "Columbia Master Book" (which I can't afford...?!).

I also have a 1934 Columbia catalog (or THINK I do?!)...

...stevenc