Empire (23)

U.S. record label produced by several manufacturers for the Empire Talking Machine Co. of Chicago, Illinois, between 1917-1921. The earliest releases were produced by the Rex Talking Machine Corporation and duplicated material and catalog numbers of releases on the Rex Record (3) label. Following the demise of the Rex Talking Machine Corporation, a second series of Empire releases was introduced in 1918, using steel-needle vertical-cut dubbings of Pathé Frères Phonograph Co. masters. By 1919, Empire was obtaining its material from the Operaphone Company, which produced universal-cut dubbings of Pathé Frères Phonograph Co. masters. These releases were anonymous, and duplicated couplings and catalog numbers of Operaphone releases. The final series of Empire records was produced by The Arto Company.