American Record Company (U.S.A.) / 1905
Corporate background:
Ellsworth Hawthorne and Horace Sheble were
phonograph distributors in Philadelphia who were blacklisted by
Edison for shady business practices. Their third partner was
John Prescott, whose brother Frederick was a principal of the
International Talking Machine Company (Zon-O-Phone), which in
1901 had been barred from producing records in contravention of
Victor/Columbia’s crucial patents. As a subsidiary, the
American Record Company began issuing lateral-cut discs in
1904. After Columbia won a decisive court case against
Zon-O-Phone in 1906, the American Record Company was forced to
cease operations.
Design: Unusual
swashes distinguish the initials A and R of the label name.
Similar curlicues decorate letters in the slogan "Music
hath Charms" -- a phrase which ends "to soothe the
savage['s] breast." The illustration features an early
disc-playing machine with the reproducer connected to the base
of its front-mounted horn. The noble-looking warrior chief
wears wampum beads, a sign of wealth, and smokes a pipe of
peace.
The predominantly red, white and blue label
is printed litho, but the imprinting was rubber-stamped, the
water-based ink fading over time.