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Columbia Graphophone Company

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US Columbia company. For the UK company (1917-1965) please go to [l=Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd.] The manufacturing and marketing/sales companies responsible for records bearing the [l1866] label (and various affiliated and client labels) is complex. Although their names were almost identical, the "[l138789]", the "Columbia Graphophone Manufacturing Company" and the "[l97841]" were all distinct companies. [l97841] was a British affiliate of the Columbia Graphophone/Phonograph Company, and is not the correct record company responsible for manufacturing Columbia products in the U.S. during the early 20th century. All Columbia discs produced between 1902-1916 were manufactured by the [l437429], and discs of this era credit the [l112015], which was the marketing/sales arm of the [l1416348]. The record company known as "Columbia Phonograph Company, Gen'l" was renamed the "[l138789]" at the end of January, 1913, and this name appears on discs produced in the U.S. between 1913-1923. The manufacturing arm of this company, the "[l437429]" was reorganized in early 1916 as the "Columbia Graphophone Manufacturing Company". In 1922, the Columbia Graphophone Company sold its stock in the British affiliate, and the American parent was reorganized as the "[l486953]" In March 1925, the British affiliate took control of U.S. Columbia. Discs produced between 1924-1932 credit the "[l486953]", but technically the "[l97841]" was the parent company during much of the time between 1925 and 1931. In 1931 the U.S. company was separated again from the British one (which formed part of EMI). American Columbia ownership passed to the Grigsby-Grunow Company in late 1931, and to the [l477618] (ARC) in 1934. Consolidated Film Industries, which owned ARC, sold the conglomerate (including Columbia) to [l471293] in 1938.

By Kyle Larson