The Aeolian Company

U.S. record company, 1918-1925. A major producer of player pianos, organs and other musical instruments, Aeolian entered the phonograph market in 1915 and began producing records in 1918. Earliest releases had a fine-groove vertical cut and were introduced in May, 1918. These did not sell particularly well, and in late 1919 the company began to produce standard lateral-cut discs. The first were announced in the January 15, 1920 issue of The Talking Machine World . Distinctive reddish-orange pressings were introduced in August, 1920, at which time the company shortened the name of its flagship label from Aeolian Vocalion to Vocalion (2). On December 1, 1924 the Aeolian Company announced the impending sale of its Vocation record division to The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, citing a desire to focus fully on the production of musical instruments. That sale became effective on January 3, 1925 and marked the end of The Aeolian Company's involvement with record production.