Montgomery Ward Records

Montgomery Ward Records was American retailer Montgomery Ward's store brand record label. The records were sold at a lower than industry standard prices through company stores and catalogs. During its prolific run, the label issued many important country and jazz recordings.

Montana Slim release on a Montgomery Ward issue

History

Production of the label began in 1933 as an in-house budget label, with an arrangement with Victor Records that gave Montgomery Wards access to every style of music in Victor's vault.[1][2] The first issues were pressed by Victor and included popular music as well as country (including Cajun), race records, ethnic material with catalog numbers beginning at M-4200, which was intended to match and replace (often with different artists) that of Broadway Records, which although not exclusive to Wards had been extensively marketed by them.[1][2] A second series recorded and pressed by Victor, beginning with M-6000, was devoted to classical music.[2]

Montgomery Ward also had a short-lived contract with Decca Records that resulted in releases of both Decca and some Gennett Records material to which Decca held rights.[2] Decca-originated issues can be identified by the lack of a "M" prefix before the catalog number.[2] Material originating from Eli Oberstein's United States Record Corporation (Varsity, Royale) including older Crown Records recordings, was issued in a short-lived M-3000 series which also included material from Paramount Records, Gennett, and various foreign labels to which Oberstein's claim of ownership was dubious.[2][3]

Production ceased in December 1941, by which time Montgomery Ward's longstanding arrangement with Victor ended.[1][2]

Released material

Because Montgomery Ward's catalogs were widely distributed in rural areas, country music was a large part of Montgomery Ward's catalog, including many releases of importance to collectors.[2][3] The records were priced for consumers at well below industry average, 21 cents per record or $1.79 in groups of ten.[3] Older material such as recordings by Henry Burr and Cal Stewart, which continued to sell in rural areas, were released.[3] Most of the released material was from recordings originally made for Bluebird Records, although many were never released on that label, leaving Montgomery Ward as the sole issue.[2]

References

Spottswood, Dick (2004). Rumble, John; McCall, Michael; Kingsbury, Paul (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 1443–1444. ISBN 9780199840441.
Russell, Tony; Pinson, Bob (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921-1942. Oxford University Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780199881543.
Sutton, Allan (2000). American Record Labels and Companies – An Encyclopedia (1891-1943). Mainspring Press. pp. 131–133. ISBN 0-9671819-0-9.

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[ecm-1] Spottswood, Dick (2004). Rumble, John; McCall, Michael; Kingsbury, Paul (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 1443–1444. ISBN 9780199840441.

[cmr-2] Russell, Tony; Pinson, Bob (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921-1942. Oxford University Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780199881543.

[sutton-3] Sutton, Allan (2000). American Record Labels and Companies – An Encyclopedia (1891-1943). Mainspring Press. pp. 131–133. ISBN 0-9671819-0-9.