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(circa 1920-1921)  This rare West Coast label was manufactured by the New York Recording Laboratories for the Blue Bird Talking Machine Company (5607 Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles). Blue Bird operated retail stores in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. Moses F. Fybush filed a trademark application from Los Angeles on August 6, 1919, claiming use of the Blue Bird brand on phonographs since July 14 of that year, but there was no mention of records in the application. Fybush also received at least one design patent for a phonograph cabinet in 1920. Blue Bird used NYRL's Paramount masters exclsuively, and couplings and catalog numbers are identical to those of their counterpart issues on Paramount. Unfortunately, Blue Bird seems to have been discontinued before Paramount introduced its race-record series, and no significant jazz or blues items have surfaced on this label. This rare brand is not related to the Radio Corporation of America's later, and much more common, Bluebird label. © 2000 by Mainspring Press. Label photo © 2000 by Kurt R. Nauck III. All rights reserved. No portion of this material may be reproduced without prior written consent of the copyright holder(s).
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