[78-L] Odd Hit of The Week

[zimrec at juno.com]

Last week, at an estate sale, I turned up two copies of the same Tommy Reynolds Orch record on Hit of the Week label.  This appears unrelated to the 1930s HOW, however.  The unfortunate thing is that both copies are warped and I'm not sure how to flatten them.  As is, I cannot play them.

The records are cardboard base with laminated coating.  The nearest thing I can compare them to are some 16" transcriptions made during WW-II period which had cardboard base instead of the usual glass substitute for aluminum or some of those small discs on which one could record one's voice.  I think the latter were made in small recording booths that were in stores.

Thsee HOW records, according to inscription on the label, were made by Holyoke Plastics, Inc. of Holyoke, Massachusetts.   The record numbers, as printed on the label, are hyphenated.  No inscription appears in the wax.  Not having any other releases on this label to make comparisons, I assume the part of the number after the hyp[hen may be the release number  and the number preceding the hyphen the matrix.

187-43  Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy) - vocal by Ralph Young and Mary Ann McCall
188-43  Seventh Inning Stretch

The latter title is apparently an instrumental by Reynolds.

Too, across the entire label, just below the center hole, must be one of the earliest examples of commercial micro printing.  In letters 1 mm high, on a single line, it says: For noncommercial use only on phonographs in homes per agreement  of mfr and original purchaser.see detailed notice on envelope.

Unfortunately, I didn't see any envelope for this record.

Most of the approximately 200 78s I looked through were 1940s and 1950s popular.   It was below freezing, but in the garage I came across about 20 records, mostly 1920s and most of those Yiddish.  But, by the time I found them, my fingers were numb.  I brought those back indoors where I found a pile of sheet music from which I selected between 15 and 20 pieces, including two from 1920s Yiddish theatre productions, one of those with Molly Picon's picture on the cover.

Does anyone know more about those Holyoke Hit of the Week records?

Art

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