Phonoland

Hi everyone,

Now that I extended my current stereo audio system to play shellacs as well, I'm getting the 78's bug and am looking to expand my collection.

I've recently bought a stack of Romanian music 78's printed on a New York-based label called "Cristea's Roumanian Records" but cannot seem to find any information on it whatsoever. Short of going to New York and looking up the address in the archives - something I plan on doing later next month - does anyone know where I can find more information on this (or whom I should speak with - online or in New York)?

Also, I'm currently trying to increase my collection with more Romanian music on shellac. Short of looking on eBay, where else would you recommend I search?

Thanks in advance!

You mentioned "looking up the address." Does an address appear on the records? If so, can you post it. That may be a clue.

Also, do any matrix numbers or catalog numbers appear on the discs?

If possible, could you post a few photos of the labels? That may also help.

JDS

The address of Cristea's Roumanian Records is written directly on the labels. On early releases, the address is
- 235 West 75th Street

...changing to:
- 351 West 53rd Street

I've google mapped both addresses and dug some information about the buildings themselves, but I'd like to find out more about the label itself, when it was started, by who (probably Josef Cristea) and how long it ran for.

What's interesting is that towards the mid-500 catalog numbers, the label design changes: the crown is dropped, the label is now advertised as a distributor, and there is another catalog number. Notice the E3-KB-5925 on the bottom of the label in cristea_4.jpg

Does anyone know where the E3....cat. no. could be from?