MMD > Archives > March 1999 > 1999.03.19 > 03Prev  Next


House Brands
By Bryan Cather

In addition to Sears and "Supertone", some other house brands come to
mind, particularly "Harmony", the Montgomery Ward house brand.  I'm not
sure who actually made them.

I also have rolls labeled "Landay" and "Ritz", sold by department
stores of the same name.  The "Landay" roll was actually made by QRS,
while the "Ritz" roll was produced by Atlas.

I also have a "Lakeside" roll, which I suspect to be a house brand,
either for a department store, or possibly a music store.  I have seen
"Lakeside" pianos as well.  Aside from the brand name, this roll looks
like a product of U.S. Music Co.

Several of the rolls in my collection have labels on the box tops
advertising the original seller.  One from Fort Worth (near my home)
is for Stripling's Department Store, touted as having the largest music
roll selection in the South.  Stripling's survived as an independent
store until about ten years ago, then they merged with another old-line
Fort Worth store, and is now Stripling & Cox.  They don't even have a
music department anymore.  I don't think they even sell radios.

Speaking of large department stores with their own brands, J. C.
Penny's house brand for years was "Foremost".  In elementary school
in the mid 1970's, our milk in the cafeteria was from Foremost dairies.
I'm not sure how J. C. Penny got into the dairy business, but the logo
on the milk cartons and the logo on my jeans was the same.

Bryan Cather

 [ See the collection begun by Karl Ellison of the labels and stickers
 [ on music rolls, at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures/  -- Robbie


(Message sent Fri 19 Mar 1999, 20:31:09 GMT, from time zone GMT-0600.)

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