Eclipse and Crown Records in the 1930s

Great music for sixpence

In 1929 a new era was dawning. Woolworth and Crystallate were enjoying great success with 'The Victory' and hoped to build on the momentum in the new decade. Advances in technology meant that it had become possible to make eight inch (20cm) shellac discs more cheaply than the seven inch (17.5cm) Victory label had first started, giving a further minute's playing time. They agreed that to mark the change the name 'Eclipse' would sound more modern. Crystallate agreed an exclusive long-term contract to sell the new label only to Woolworth. Following the technique developed for The Victory, the songs were captured electronically in the supplier's studio, where they were then mastered onto metal plates which were used to print the discs. The release schedule was stepped up, so that there would be at least five new records every week. To achieve this some of the best sellers from the early Victory and Mimosa labels were remastered.

Rival stores stocked "Broadcast Long-Playing Records" for one shilling and threepence (approximately 6½p), while Woolworth discs were under half of that price. Eclipse promised two hits per record, one on either side. Many of the songs were by famous artists, recording under a pseudonym. This moonlighting allowed them to make a little extra money outside an exclusive contract with another label. Other discs were recorded young singers at the start of their careers. As well as songs, there was dance and military band music, and an ever-changing selection of comedy records, featuring popular BBC radio artists like Philip Ridgeway.

A typical record gave three minutes' playing time. Despite running at 78rpm and using a disposable needle rather a stylus, the recording quality remains quite credible today, over eighty years after the records first hit the shelves. At the Original Virtual Museum we have an built an extensive library. We have picked a few of our own favourites for the juke box, but will do our best to seek out any particular favourites that you remember from shopping at Woolies, or have heard on the radio. Why not drop us a line with your request?

By 1935 Woolworth UK sold millions of Eclipse Records each year, but its margins were being eroded by escalating raw material costs. Something had to be done. Executives worked with Crystallate to find a solution. They came up with an innovative solution, buying new machinery and adopting a new manufacturing process. This allowed cheaper raw materials to be used. Discs were made of a revolutionary plastic called Bakelite in a larger nine inch (22.5cm) format. As well as allowing more playing time, the new material meant that the grooves did not have to be so tightly packed, making the records cheaper to produce. To mark the change, the records were rebranded "Crown", reinstating a marque that Edison Bell had used before the Great War. New signings were added to the established artists from Eclipse to add spice to the offer.

Store players were upgraded too. Most had been treated to a wind-up gramophone in the early 1920s. The smaller stores were upgraded to electronic "record players", while the largest branches received fully-fledged radiograms to promote the offer. The move sparked a lot of interest among the staff about how the records were made. It spawned an article in the staff magazine, The New Bond, as a reporter visited the factory to describe the manufacturing process*. (*Please note that the linked page includes an embedded audio track*)

Favourites on the Crown label including Mrs. Jack Hylton and her Band (otherwise known as Ennis Parkes), Billy Merrin, who was nicknamed the King of the Midlands, and Rossini's Accordion Band. Rossini was actually Harry Bidgood and cheekily also insisted on recording on Crown under his other pseudonym of Don Porto and even Primo Scala, meaning that he could have three releases going on sale in the Woolworth music chart in the same week! Bidgood started life as Recording Manager for Vocalion and played a pivotal role in the success of each of the pre-war labels after joining Crystallate when the companies merged in 1926.

Among the artists that Bidgood hired was Vera Lynn, who appeared, uncredited, on several Crown Records before gaining a byline of her own in 1937. She remembers her time with Crown as a happy one, Her songs were sold in Woolies for sixpence either on 78 or as sheet music. Vera went on to become the Forces' Sweetheart and was appointed a Dame of the British Empire in the 1970s. Without doubt she was one of the best loved singers of the 20th Century, and was the star performer at Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. We're proud to offer two of her songs for your listening pleasure.

Sadly the gramophone record story of the 1930s did not have a completely happy ending, and goes to show the sacrifices that Woolworth bosses had to make in the last years of the decade. By the Summer of 1937 raw material prices had gone up to such an extent that sixpenny records were no longer profitable. Reluctantly company bosses concluded that they would have to drop the range and offer something else instead. Customers were disappointed but admired the firm's commitment to holding down prices. Amazingly in 1938 the replacement range was .... tinned fruit ... honestly - ain't life a peach? It was sixteen years before records returned as a regular range.