British Brunswick Values
this page first published by John Wright, 3 Dec 1997
last update 14 Mar 2005
vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk
Note: values quoted are typical prices paid at a record fair stall where the stall-holder knows the demand for music and records.
A frequently found record label in a 78rpm collection, Brunswick is a
favourite record label with collectors of jazz and film stars of the 1920's and 1930's. The first British records were known as
Brunswick-Cliftophone, consisting of American bands and artistes, and their catalogue numbers were the same as the US issues. Then in 1927 British recordings began to
appear on Brunswick in a series beginning with 101, but the company folded in 1929. Then in 1930 the label appeared again starting the catalogue numbers at 1000, and then after 1499 a zero was placed in front
and the series resumed from 01500 onwards for decades. Examples of values:
| Cat. No. | Band or Artiste | Issue Date | Typical Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3301 | Ben Selvin Orch | 1926 | £2.00 | American band, two dance titles |
| 3317 | Abe Lyman's California Orch. | 1926 | £3.00 | American band, two dance titles, one jazzy |
| 3406 | Fletcher Henderson's Orch | 1926 | £8.00 | American jazz |
| 3775 | Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orch | 1928 | £5.00 | hot American dance titles |
| 3927 | Frank Luther | 1928 | £1.00 | American singer |
| 106 | Fred Elizalde (piano solos) | 1928 | £5.00 | rare Elizalde record |
| 189 | Fred Elizalde and his Music | 1928 | £10.00 | rare Elizalde band, with Al Bowlly vocals |
| 1068 | Duke Ellington and his Famous Orch | 1930 | £3.00 | classic jazz, fairly common |
| 1313 | Cab Calloway and his orch | 1932 | £3.00 | classic jazz, fairly common |
| 01523 | Ambrose and his Orchestra | 1933 | £3.00 | good British dance band titles |
| 01562 | Bing Crosby | 1933 | £1.00 | common Bing record |
| 01803 | Red Nichols and his Five Pennies | (1927) re-issued 1934 | £3.00 | great jazz, re-issued |
| 01963 | Dorsey Brothers Orchestra | 1934 | £3.00 | not great titles |
| 02210 | New Orleans Rhythm Kings | (1923) re-issued 1934 | £4.00 | great jazz, re-issued |
| 02492 | Bing Crosby and Connie Boswell | 1937 | £2.00 | very swingy titles, but very common |
| 03168 | Johnny Dodds and his Orch | 1940 | £4.00 | jazz |
| 03473 | Jimmy Dorsey and his orch | 1942 | £2.00 | big band |
| 03719 | Al Jolson | 1946 | £1.00 | from the film Jolson Story |
| . | . | . | . | . |
These records are only examples of what kind of values are put on some of Brunswick's records. There will be some records by the same artistes worth more or less,
depends on the quality of the music and on how many copies of the records were sold.
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