[78-L] Peerless from Mexico

[Glenn Longwell]

Han & Doug,

I have Peerless 2238 with an image shown on my site.  I hadn't written anything about it yet.

http://www.majesticrecord.com/labelsp.htm

If you want the other side Han let me know.

Cheers,
Glenn

--- On Fri, 8/27/10, Han Enderman <jcenderman at solcon.nl> wrote:

From: Han Enderman <jcenderman at solcon.nl>
Subject: [78-L] Peerless from Mexico
To: "78-L" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Cc: "Han Enderman" <jcenderman at solcon.nl>
Date: Friday, August 27, 2010, 4:34 PM

Doug (DRJAZZ78 at aol.com) reported Peerless 899 ([78-L] Record Question) 
and Sutton-Nauck is not clear about the rare Peerless labels.
Therefore this summary of available information (which even refers to our beloved Gennett label).

I will describe the first 6 Peerless labels (US c.1903-1922) in a separate mail.
Doug, is it possible to send me scans/photos of the record labels?
---
An Arhoolie project to document the Mexican Peerless label is mentioned:
http://www.arhoolie.org/projects-peerless.html (with image of Peerless 1895).
I'll quote from the introduction:
Documenting & Cataloging the Mexican PEERLESS Label
Peerless was Mexico's first, but so far totally undocumented, commercial record label. 
The firm began in the late 1920s and operated until 2003, when it was sold to Warner Entertainment. 
In 1996 the Arhoolie Foundation began cataloging and documenting the firm's output from 1939 
(when they began with catalog release # 1500) after a fire had destroyed their facilities 
along with all documents and masters, through 1955 or the end of the 78 rpm format. 
(...) Details of most of the pre-1939 recordings were supplied by collectors in Mexico ...
---
A larger image of a Mexican label 1883 is at Ted Staunton's website:
http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1940-1949.pages/Peerless/peerless.htm
---
The starting date and first issue are not clear, however.
Ted Staunton says (source unknown; wikipedia?):
"Corporate background: Founded in Mexico in 1921 by E. Baptista, Peerless records were pressed 
for them by Gennett until the early 1940s, when they began pressing their own."
Note that another Gnt relation is found under Nauck's Peerless-5. mfd by Starr c.1921-22.
---
Spanish or Mexican Wikipedia gives exact dates:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discos_Peerless
Fábrica de discos Peerless S.A. de C.V. fue la primera empresa fonográfica mexicana 
fundada en el año de 1933, por Don Gustavo Klinckwort y Don Eduardo Baptista.
Inicia operaciones el 14 de agosto de 1933, su marca ®Peerless, fue registrada 
el 7 de abril de 1921, bajo el No. 19263, por lo cual no puede ser usada con otros fines.
---
A 1933/34 date seems likely for the reported issue:
Peerless 899 by Roy Carter y su Orquesta:
256 A   En Las Sombra (Vals)
261 A  Gold Diggers Song - Very good version, with hot solos.
---
Having described 5 early US Peerless labels, Sutton-Nauck state:
"Another Peerless label, apparently dating to the later 1920s, has been reported ...but 
no confirmation has been forthcoming. This may be a case of mistaken identity of the 
1940s Peerless label, which was produced concurrently in Los Angeles and Mexico City."
I assume that the early (1930s) black Peerless label (known range 852-977), 
which omits an address or country, was incorrectly reported as an US label.

The Mexican label (and its US counterpart) exists in 3 main label types and several variants, 
usually red or maroon, but also black or blue.
ARLD lists addresses and gives 2 dating guides: 2358 1/47; 2637 2/48.
The first US label type (first known issue 2573) mentions Coast Record Mfg. Co. at Los Angeles.

I have images in the following Mexican "series" (based on label types):
800/900; 1600-4600, 5000-5100; 7000s.
Possibly this is a single numerical series. LoC database lists issues in range 1819-5032.
I assume that many issues exist in both US and Mexican form, but have no examples of such issues 
for a single cat.nr.
Images in range 1601-2527 contain a registration legend, mentioning M.I.R. No. 19253 and the 
date Abril 7 1921.
Starting with Mexican 2711 (image) the label only states "Marca Registrada" below the trademark. 
This legend also on the 1940s US issues.
Later issues/pressings (prob 1950s) have a year code after the mx.nr. 
For ex. Peerless 2282 (mx 2744-44), 2176 (mx 3458-45) & 3964 (mx 9952-51).

Han Enderman
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