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RCA Records Pressing Plant, Camden

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Opened in 1905 as [l1710544]. Operated under this name from 1929 (when [l=RCA] purchased [l=Victor Talking Machine Co.]) until its closing on January 29, 1949 after a sales slump. To identify 78RPM discs that were pressed at the Camden facility between Fall 1937 and its closing in 1949, note the following label details: ▶ Victor and Bluebird labels citing "RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc" at bottom: Two concentric label arcs of equal length = Camden pressing. ▶ Victor, RCA Victor and Bluebird labels citing "RCA Victor Division of Radio Corporation of America" at bottom: Two concentric circles broken away from small RCA circle = Camden pressing. In 1929, Radio Corporation of America ([l=RCA]) purchased [l=Victor Talking Machine Co.] RCA sought to gain [l=Victor]’s reputation and world-class artist roster and its legendary manufacturing plant, which was the largest in the world at that time. With the purchase of Victor, RCA operated it as its own division, but it was greatly reduced. This coincided with the slow economic decline of Camden’s Cooper Street which was partly influenced by the reduction of traffic that occurred when the Benjamin Franklin Bridge opened in 1926, which allowed for easy accessibility to Philadelphia. After being purchased in 1929, Victor’s divisions in Camden also decreased. Simultaneously, during the Great Depression, the employment rate at Victor/RCA declined drastically. By 1936, however, the number of employees living on Cooper Street changed as Victor became one of the top music labels and manufacturer in the country. Victor Talking Machine Company was renamed Victor Records in 1935, and it remained the top label in the music industry until 1946 when its parent company, RCA, downsized the music division in preparation for the manufacturing of television. Between 1935 and 1946, Victor was the top label in the music industry; recording artists such as Woody Guthrie, Frank Sinatra, and Glenn Miller.