Valkyrie Record (England) / c. 1913
Corporate background:
Evidently produced for Catesbys, a London
department store.
The Valkyries, in Nordic folklore, were
maidens who served Odin, the god of war.
‘The Valkyries’ was one of the
four segments of Wagner’s opera The Ring, which was very
popular in Germany at this time; despite the disclaimer that
the record was entirely made in England, it was likely made in
Germany.
Label scan courtesy of UK music researcher
and collector Bill Dean-Myatt.
Design: The
design has a feminine quality, with the graceful lettering and
the ornamental swags.
An early example of an underlining swash
beneath script lettering for the label name, which treatment
later became much more robust (e.g. Marathon).
Arms of the capital letters are extended
into swashes in an attempt to create a unique visual unit, to
become known as the logotype.
