[ARSCLIST] The "Personal" Label

[Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>]

I just received a record on the "Personal" label, made by Electric Recording Laboratories, New York, of a privale classial vocal.  It's a one sided 78 shellac pressing, apparently from the 1920s, with a handwritten matrix number, P-226-3, in an unfamiliar hand.  The label is black and gold with a thick gold circle along the label's edge, the name of the company in clack within it curved along the bottom half,  and a lion standing on its hind legs and facing left in a small oval frame at the top, gold on white.  Below the center hole is a white half-moon into which the content is inked.  Not the same handwriting as that for the matrix number.  It  is not a Columbia-derived Personal Record label.

This is one of the areas of recordings I hope to discuss, however briefly, at the forthcoming ARSC conference.

The song is Lungi dal caro bene and is signed with thre title and "Sincerely yours, Josephine Strassner.  The's a very fine alto with a secure bottom and an easy top- that's a description of the voice, you fools!   It's piano accompanied and has a limited dynamic range, probably very late acoustic.  I found her picture on line.  She was teaching voice at Albright College, Meyerstown, PA in 1927.

I've never seen the label before.  Any input?

Steve Smolian