Three Paramount ads from 1919. At that early stage, its race record series was still several years away, and other than the bold advertising graphics — a Paramount specialty from the start — there was little to distinguish the label from dozens of other start-ups. The bottom ad pictures the Grafton, Wisconsin complex. The long structure on the left is the pressing plant, in a converted fabric mill. The building on the right would eventually house the legendary studio in which the likes of Skip James recorded.
If you don’t already have a copy, be sure to check out Alex van der Tuuk’s epic Paramount’s Rise and Fall: The Roots and History of Paramount Records, with over 150 illustrations, available in a new expanded edition from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
