Record Club Of America, Inc.

Record Club of America was based in York, Pa., and operated from the late '60s to mid '70s. It was basically a discount mail-order record retailer -- it wasn't affiliated with any label, but offered everything that was in the (late, lamented) Schwann Record Catalog. If you "joined," you got circulars in the mail every few weeks, but there were no monthly selections or cards to send back. The "Manufactured by Record Club of America" apparently is what led to their downfall. After achieving a certain amount of success, the company started cutting deals with the big labels to buy these custom pressings so they could get better wholesale prices. The "Manufactured by ..." indicated that the records weren't returnable to the record label, which lowered the label's cost (in those days, regular pressings were 100% returnable if they didn't sell -- big cost to the label). They'd also forgo the shrink wrap and maybe use cheaper vinyl to shave the cost some more. But, if the records didn't sell, Record Club of America was stuck with them.