Design: A beautifully-drawn and evocative illustration of a gaucho (cowboy) and his animal companions on a luxuriant South American ranch. The spectacular cartouche containing the credit info is done in the French rococo style, clearly showing the original 'sea-shell' motif. The label name, lettered in a sans-serif style, is understated but well-positioned to catch the eye.
History: Label scan courtesy of Argentinian collector Martín Javier Gorosito, who writes that Era, headed by Carlos Domingo Nasca, devolved from the Era Grand Record label, which was part of German businessman Carl Lindström's recording empire. Collectors/buyers: see his web site at www.discos-martin78rpm.com.ar
Images (below) of c. 1914 labels courtesy of collector and music researcher Daniel Beller. He writes: "Many tango and criolla songs (a Peruvian genre of music, which combines mainly African, Spanish and Andean influences) originally recorded by Era appeared on other South American labels. Era's output included many curious offerings, such as saucy poetry read by 'a prison inmate' and waltzes and mazurkas by the Rondalla Relampago. Whether these were produced for a logical reason such as denoting different series, or done arbitrarily, is unknown."
 
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