Minerva-Record (Germany) / c. 1912
Corporate background:
Interestingly, several German-made pre-WWI
labels featured Greco-Roman (pagan) symbolism and/or imagery
(e.g. Apollo, Minerva, Polyphon, Janus, Kronophon), probably
reflecting an intense public interest in the newly-formed
science of archaeology, but also evidencing a retreat from
traditional Christianity into pagan mysticism, as typified in
the melodramatic operas of Wagner.
Minerva, a Greco-Roman goddess whose main
attribute was wisdom, was also venerated as the inventor of
music.
Label scan courtesy of UK music researcher
and collector Bill Dean-Myatt.
Design: The
fan-like design above the spindle-hole is very similar to that
appearing on the Lyrophon label.
The label name appears in a very
attractively ornamented bold condensed Victorian-era font.
A variety of type styles has been used for
the imprinting, from narrow condensed sans serif to
widely-spaced stub-serif.