New Victor Record Flyers
These Victor advertising flyers for newly-released 78 rpm records were mailed by company distributors to their dealers in late 1923 and early 1924, letting them know what they needed to stock up on.
Victor was the leading recording company of its day, and its record inventory covered most musical categories. These flyers advertise everything from light classical music by Paderewski to humor by Will Rogers to the peppy music selections of the Paul Whiteman Dance Band.
Notice the care that went into preparing these flyers. Victor was not always noted for its interesting design work in advertising. But here it went all-out in its layout and graphics. To some extent, all record companies in the 1920s were willing to put money into their print advertising efforts.
Unfortunately, advertising budgets were slashed in the 1930s, due to the Great Depression, with many advertisement handouts eliminating the graphics altogether. Paper advertisements were often reduced to print only on cheap paper.
Attractive flyers like these Victor ones would become a thing-of-the-past.
Note: All of the record flyers and advertisements are from the Bowman collection.
