Emerson Records
Emerson Records was an American record label of the 1910s and 1920s.
Emerson Records was from 1916 to 1928; it produced in the 1910s and the early 1920s, shellac records of high sound quality, while the fidelity of subsequent productions subsided. Emerson was founded by Victor H. Emerson, who had worked with Columbia Records in the 1890s. In 1916 he began his record company with the production of 7- inch records, which were sold for 25 cents; the smaller 5 ½ - inch plates for 10 cents each. The repertoire of the early years included popular music, dance music, and patriotic marches, most of which were played by small ensembles with unknown musicians from New York City. This has been called " Emerson Orchestra" or even occasionally pompous as "The Emerson Symphony Orchestra". In January 1918, Emerson completed the program with a series of 9- inch records, which were trading at 75 cents. After the end of World War Emerson started his business expand and published from 1919 a series of records on the now usual industry standard of 10 - inch records, which were sold for 85 cents and the following year for a dollar.
In 1919, first published in a series of 12 - inch records, mostly music with European classical music, at a price of U.S. $ 1.25. During this time, received popular artists such as Arthur Fields, Wilbur Sweatman, Eddie Cantor, the Six Brown Brothers and the Louisiana Five recording contracts. Soon after, artists from the fields of jazz and blues as Lizzie Miles, Noble Sissle / Eubie Blake, Fletcher Henderson and the original Memphis Five for Emerson took on.
More then known musicians of the label were Ben Selvin, John W. Myers, Henry Burr and The Peerless Quartet, Billy Golden, Collins & Harlan, Sally Hamlin, Dan Quinn, Sam Ash, Vernon Dalhart, Van & Schenk, Ada Jones and Homer Rodeheaver.
In May 1920, Emerson opened a second recording studio in Los Angeles; However overtaxed Emerson expansion of the business the company's finances and forced him into bankruptcy in 1921. In May 1922, the company was $ 50,000 earned by investors Benjamin Abrams and Rudolph Kararek for U.S. and provided with a recapitalization of another $ 200,000 to revive the business. The records of Emerson were offered it for 50 cents per copy. 1924 sold to investors, the company at the Scranton Button Company in Scranton (Pennsylvania). Around this time, replaced electrical microphones the previous mechanical recording techniques and Emerson moved in 1926 to this new technology. Scranton Button Co. stopped production of new records from Emerson to 1928 upright; after the company maintained the naming rights and offered a range of Emerson radio to.
The company also released called "Race Records " for the market of the African American population.