Standard Disc Record

American mail-order label, released by Robert Johns' Chicago-based Standard Talking Machine Co. between 1904 and 1916. Standard records had a 1/2-inch wide spindle hole so that they could only be played on Standard Talking Machine Co. phonographs. The phonographs were given away free as long as the customer bought a certain number of Standard records. All releases were reissues of Columbia recordings. The earliest Standard Disc Record labels list as company address 200 Monroe St in Chicago, and composer and titles are at first rubber-stamped, later typewritten into a white field. By Summer 1906 at the latest, the address has changed to 198-202 Monroe St. Starting in 1912, the address becomes Dearborn & Harrison Sts., and soon afterwards the earlier black-and-silver labels are replaced by black-and-gold labels. In 1914, both Standard and Harmony Disc Record labels add decorative concentric rings that are spaced so they can be used as drilling guides for the larger spindle holes common to both labels (1/2" for Standard, 3/4" for Harmony).