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SHELLAC DISK
FACES

Apart from larger enterprises, even before Great Patriotic War (WW2) gramophone disks were produced by cottage industry and experimental factories. In Leningrad such was Experimental Factory of "Lenobliskusstvo" ("Leningrad regional art management"). Labels of local factories were mostly of inferior quality. If even at pre-war time the leading factories were using color polygraphy with bronze and aluminium paints, small workshops were making use of black-and-white photo printing as late as end 1950s. Left - an example of a label by Leningrad Experimental Factory ("LEF").

On standard "grand" plates LEF factory sometimes placed labels of diminished diameter (55 mm).

After the war demand for gramophone plates has been growing rapidly. Because of that their production was increased, also thanks to local enterprises situated mostly near Moscow and Leningrad. Those factories were for some periods subordinated to different Soviet departments and all the changes could be seen on the labels. Dating of such disks is very difficult, for the majority of them did not have numeration of recording matrix in the standard catalog of "Gramplasttrest". The labels on each side of the plates of local studios were often different. Left - a label of a disk made by Leningrad Factory of Plastic Goods of the Ministry of local industry of the Russian Federation (1949).

Big editions of plates were turned out by "Plastmass" artel (factory) on Sinopskaya (Kalashnikovskaya) embankment in Leningrad. You see two of the labels on disks of "grand" size produced by that factory in 1945-1949. The right label was printed in many versions of the topic, some of them are shown here.

Mignon-size disks of that factory (diam.200 mm, label - 50 mm) with somewhat less recording groove pitch enjoyed great popularity. That factory was resubordinated to Lengorpromsovet ("Leningrad City Industrial Council"). Pictures on the labels often differed according to the musical material. Early 1950s.

Standard labels of "grand" plates produced by "Plastmass" artel under Lengorpromsovet (1950s).

Mid-1950s. Standard labels of the popular "mignons" of "Plastmass" factory with some varieties of the topic. At that time the factory turned out even more compact plates (diam. 165 mm, label - 43 mm).

In late 1950s the factory was resubordinated to the Head Management of Local Industry and acquired stable logotypes both for "grand" plates (left) and "mignons" (right).

Another larger enterprise was the disk works at Krasnoye Selo near Leningrad (the pre-war "Gramplastmass" artel). You can see two samples of the factory's labels dating 1938-1940.

Left - a post-war label of Krasnoselsky Works. Right - a label of early 1950s disks. It is known in 4 versions (placed here).

The local industry of Moscow was represented by several works, one of them Disk factory of Moskvoretsky district. In early 1950s it often printed photos of the performers on its labels. The label (left) shows a most popular in those days comical variety duet: Yuri Timoshenko (Tarapunjka) and Efim Berezin (Shtepselj). Right - reverse of the disk.

One more example of a disk made by Moskvoretsky Works. The plate dating back to first half of 1950s bears the number of recording matrix produced in 1937. Reprinting from old matrixes was common practise especially for local factories.

1954. A plate of a very popular variety singer of those days - Leonid Kostritsa (Moskvoretsky District Works). Right - reverse side.

Plastics Factory No. 1 of "Mosgorplastmass" Trust was another Moscow enterprise producing gramophone disks. The label shows a photo of Raisa Zhemchuzhnaya - a well-known performer of Gypsy romances.

Local factories producing disks exited in Union Republics as well, in Ukraine, in particular. You can see labels of mini-disks of Industrial Center (Kaganovich district of Odessa) - left, and of Industrial Center (Shevchenko district of Lvov) - right. (1950s.)

A plate with such a label was produced in 1960s by Chemical Industry Administration of Leningrad Sovnarkhoz ("Soviet of National Industries"). Yet the name of the exact producer is unknown.

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