Supertone (5)

U.S. shellac record label (1924-1931). Records were produced by several manufacturers for sale by Sears Roebuck & Co (1924 and 1928-31) and the Straus & Schram Company (1925-1928). The earliest Supertone records were manufactured by the Capitol Roll & Record Company, and drew upon masters from John Fletcher's Olympic Disc Record Corporation and The New York Recording Laboratories. Sears discontinued the Supertone brand in 1924, when Capitol Roll & Record went out of business. Between 1925-1928, a different Supertone label was produced by Scranton Button Company with masters from The New York Recording Laboratories, Regal Record Company, Inc. and Emerson Recording Laboratories for sale by the Straus & Schram Company. These releases initially bore black labels, but soon had label, couplings and catalog numbers that were identical to those of Radiex during this period. Production of the Straus & Schram Supertone label shifted to Pathé Phonograph & Radio Corp. in mid-1926. These bore a redesigned maroon label and had couplings and catalog numbers identical to those of Pathé Actuelle discs. By late 1927/early 1928, production of this label had shifted again, now to Columbia Phonograph Co. This short-lived series drew from Harmony (4) budget series masters. Straus & Schram discontinued its Supertone label in mid-1928, when Sears Roebuck & Co reintroduced its own Supertone label. Straus & Schram changed the name of their label to Puritone. Sears revived its Supertone label as a replacement for its defunct Silvertone brand. These were initially produced by the Starr Piano Company and drew upon Gennett Records and Champion (5) material. When Gennett faltered in 1930, Sears contracted production of Supertone to the Brunswick Radio Corporation. More than 200 releases, numbered in a new S-prefixed series, were produced before Sears discontinued the label in mid-1931.