Newark, N.J.
by Frank Himpsl (from MMD 970709)
The
Atlas Player Roll Co. started manufacturing rolls around 1925. A
possible forerunner was Supreme Music Co. --
the Atlas label label design is very similar to Supreme. However,
there's a gap from 1922-25 where I've never seen a Supreme nor an Atlas
nor a related roll type, so it's possible Atlas was a different concern
altogether.
Atlas rolls date from 1925 to 1932 and are most always found with a dark blue label design. In the early 1930s some rolls were made with an ornate orange and blue design, and the firm was referred to as "AMRCo." With Atlas rolls, the label color was usually (but not always) changed when re-done to indicate a department store name. The Landay Bros. labels were green, Bamberger's were brown, but Ritz Bros. and Wissner's were in the same dark blue. There are several more store's names which were inscribed by Atlas. All the roll masters were the same.
Atlas (dark blue on white)
![]() |
A-R
Acme
Bamberger (courtesy J. B. Roth)
![]() |
Eclipse
Emkay (courtesy Ed Sprankle. Emkay
might mean M.K. = Max Kortlander. It could also mean M. Klaidman!)
![]() |
Harmony
Herman (This might mean Max's brother, Herman Kortlander, or maybe Herman Klaidman -- who knows!)
Landay
Metro
Ray-Dio (courtesy J. B. Roth)
![]() |
Ritz
Wissner
11 January 2000



