[78-L] Mae Questel, the Betty Boop girl

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold Aherne" <leotolstoy_75 at yahoo.com>
> Based on the discography in Sudhalter & Evans' Bix bio, Victor certainly 
> kept sales
> data on specific titles and to some degree Columbia did too, although I 
> think I've read
> that their numbers were actually the number of labels printed...the number 
> of pressings
> could be considerably lower.
>
Victor DID put their sales figures in their ledgers. Columbia's files show 
numbers, but
these were the number of labels printed...these were estimated in advance, 
although
the files do show numbers for "re-orders" if they used up all the printed 
ones! AFAIK,
Gennett files also show sales. The Decca ledgers still exist (as do most of 
the
pre-ARC Brunswick ones)...and I have seen them...IIRC, neither provide sales
data...?!
> Overall data for Victor and Edison are available at
> http://www.mainspringpress.com/victorsales.html
> and
> http://www.mainspringpress.com/edison_disc-sales.html
>
> Suffice it to say that million sellers were rare prior to the 40s. And 
> when a given title
> did sell in vast numbers it was more the result of staying the catalogue 
> for years than
> for selling quickly in a few weeks or months as is the case today. Case in 
> point: Jeanette
> and Nelson's "Indian Love Call" on Victor. It's often cited as a big 
> seller and indeed it's very
> common. But I strongly doubt that the majority of its sales took place in 
> the year of its
> first issue (1936)...the scroll pressing of that title is much harder to 
> find than the Victor
> or RCA circular-label version.
>
...stevenc