[78-L] Original 1926 Columbia Test Pressing - Baby Doll

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Jim Shulman says…“If there were a label for custom pressings (or test 
pressings) in 1926 that
identified the company, it would have been called the "Columbia 
Phonograph
Company", not the "Columbia Recording Corporation".

Jim is correct. “Columbia Recording Corporation” became the new 
corporate name for American Record Corp. Monday, May 22, 1939 as filed 
with the State of Delaware. (I have a copy of the filing.) Columbia 
Recording Corp., a subsidiary of Columbia Broadcasting System Inc., did 
not announce the change until Wednesday, June 7, 1939 when it sent out 
a press release on Columbia Recording Corporation letterhead. (I have a 
copy of the single-page press release pencil-dated “6/7/39.”) Any such 
test pressing carrying the “Columbia Recording Corporation” name would 
have to have been made after that date. That said, this test pressing 
might very well be the first made from this take. Why it was not issued 
as an alternate take on a single or in an album is puzzling.