Winner - Biography

Biography - Winner

UK

THE WINNER / WINNER /EDISON BELL WINNER

Brief History
Edison Bell was a British company founded in the early 1890s, importing Edison and Columbia phonographs and records. An 1898 catalogue of recordings is available at the British Library http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TEXTS/029I-EDIGX1898XXX-0000A0.pdf

In 1904 Edison established its own company in London, and distribution rights were lost.

In 1909, Edison Bell and its subsidiary company were purchased by J.E.Hough Ltd. Edison Bell had already established a disc and cylinder manufacturing site at Peckham, South London, and continued to issue discs under the Edison Bell name until late 1912. It also issued discs under the 'Velvet Face' label into the mid 1920s.

"The Winner" label was announced in December 1911, with the first list of records announced in January 1912, and available from 1 February. It was advertised as being owned by a syndicate, with the address given as that of J.E. Hough Ltd.

The earliest labels featured multi-coloured representations of a horse and jockey, and there are many variations. Ca. 1917, the horse and jockey image became monochrome. Around March 1920, the label became red and the logo again turned multi-coloured, except that the jockey appeared in front of a simple brown background, without grandstand.

In June 1922, the name was changed to "Winner", and the label design became simpler, a gold drawing of horse and jockey on a claret background. In March 1926 the horse and jockey label was abandoned, and the name changed to "Edison Bell Winner", which originally appeared on the records as "Edison Bell Winner Record." The only illustration was a bell on the left that said "Ring out loud and clear." Around April 1931, the label name was shortened to "Edison Bell Winner." The label color remained red, but the label name now appeared as a handwritten "Edison Bell" in front of a bell, whereas "Winner" showed up in smaller capital letters in a flourish under the "Edison Bell" name.

J. E. Hough Ltd. became a public company in May 1926, and the label was changed to show a new name: Edison Bell Limited London & Huntingdon. The first electrical recording to be released was number 4386 in April 1926, but this was from American Paramount masters. The first electrical recording from Edison Bell's own masters was number 4444 in July 1926.

By 1929 the business was making losses, and in January 1933 the company was wound up. No offers for the company were received, and most of the remaining assets were eventually taken over by Decca. Decca gained a concession in 1933 to continue to release Winner records for a short time afterwards, including a new series prefixed W, while Edison Bell itself struggled on until 1938, when it was liquidated. The last Edison Bell records were issued in January 1935.

Release Dates
Note: This list does not show a few exceptions which were released out of sequence.
2000 - 2245: 1912
2246 - 2515: 1913
2516 - 2740: 1914
2741 - 2922: 1915
2923 - 3081: 1916
3071 - 3185: 1917
3187 - 3276: 1918
3266 - 3359: 1919

3356 - 3494: 1920
3487 - 3610: 1921
3612 - 3757: 1922
3759 - 3924: 1923
3933 - 4107: 1924
4108 - 4320: 1925
4321 - 4553: 1926
4554 - 4753: 1927
4754 - 4870: 1928
4871 - 4960: 1929

4961 - 5192: 1930
5193 - 5412: 1931
5413 - 5532: 1932
5533 - 5628: 1933
5629 - 5687: 1934
5688 - 5692: 1935

Edison Bell Winner from Decca
W.1 - W.52: 1933
W.53 - W.158: 1934
W.159 - W.166: 1935

Sources
Information mainly from Edison Bell Winner Records; Karlo Adrian and Arthur Badrock; 2nd Edition 1989.

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