B. D. & M. Company

Bridgeport Die & Machine Company of Bridgeport, Conn. U.S. record pressing plant active ca. 1918-1925. The Bridgeport Die & Machine Company was founded in 1912 and entered the record business around 1918, when it produced copper-plated masters for The New York Recording Laboratories. At that time, B. D. & M. did not have its own presses, and metal parts were shipped to NYRL's pressing plant in Grafton, WI. By April, 1921 B.D. & M. had its own record presses and began to actively solicit pressing business. Under an agreement with NYRL, the B.D. & M. Company pressed the Broadway (9) label beginning in 1921, and a new series of Paramount-derived Puritan records for northeastern and mid-Atlantic distribution. It also licensed NYRL's Paramount masters for use on its own line of client labels (e.g. Baldwin, Belvedere, Carnival, Chautauqua, Triangle (16) and numerous other minor 1920s labels.) In 1924, B.D. & M. shifted to the Emerson Recording Laboratories as its primary supplier of masters and began drawing upon material from the Emerson Records (2) and Grey Gull pool. The company declared bankruptcy in July, 1925. However, several of its labels were taken over by other manufacturers.