That's it! There's a "-P" hand-etched on it, some distance from the end of the matrix, but it's there. So it looks like Columbia used London (Decca) stampers and pressed these in Pitman, NJ. Thanks for the link; interesting info there.
Nice. Over the last few years I've finally gotten around to playing the last of my still sealed records.
On Spotify, "Antony Pitts - Missa Unitatis" performed by the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Capella Pratensis and the National Vrouwen Jeugdkoor on Challenge Classics.
As I said, I have a few U.S. pressings, maybe two or three. I have seen a number of others but passed them by because I know them to be inferior, even in the appearance of the label. U.S.-pressed albums seem to be more common in the late period, after Polygram acquired Decca & pressing was moved from England to Holland.
It's really not that important, but "Holland" is only part of the Netherlands, it's the name of the 2 western and economically most important and most populous provinces of the country (way below sea level). People outside those provinces don't like it when their country is called "Holland", just like Scotsmen and Welshmen don't like it when their countries are called "England" instead of "United Kingdom" or "Britain".
I am learning some history and geography today as I have always considered Holland and the Netherlands to be the same ... Peter Stuyvesant or should it be Pieter Stuyvesant is probably the most famous Dutchman in the New World as the first governor of New York, aka the New Amsterdam back in the day ... Peter Stuyvesant - Wikipedia
Thanks for setting me straight. My first impulse was to write "the Netherlands" but "Holland" had less letters. I don't have one of those Dutch (can I use that term?) London pressings, but the Philips LPs I have been playing have "Made in Holland" on the label. Careless usage for the American market or an accurate reflection of where the pressing plant was located?
IIRC, all my Philips LP's have "Pressed in Holland" instead of "Pressed in the Netherlands" on the jackets. I suppose the few extra letters would have cost more to print ...
Yep, "Dutch" is widely accepted. Its origins are not exactly clear, but it may have something to do with the language's origins (East Frankish and all that). It's too late for me to do some research now (Sunday, 4 AM). If I'm not mistaken the Philips pressing plant was located in Baarn, in the Dutch province of Utrecht - just outside the province of North Holland. Dutch companies mostly used "Made in Holland" to make things easier for people abroad
Now listening to "Celilia Bartoli - St Petersburg" performed with I Barocchisti led by Diego Fasolis on Decca.
Recorded 5/25-26/67, Kingsway Hall, London. Producer: Michael Bremner. Engineer: Michael Mailes & Colin Moorfoot. If the mastering engineer code that I have seen is accurate the lacquer for this was cut by Ted Burkett ("G"). This is a later pressing. The inner sleeve has 6/78, but I am wondering if they were still using the upside-down matrix code over the catalog number on the label as late as '78.
Yes, and it's still somewhat weird to hear non-Dutch people pronounce "Stuyvesant" - which, by the way, means something like drift-sand or blowing sand
Apparently my paternal ancestors came from the port of Husum, now a German town on the North Sea. They were recruited for a Dutch settlement in what is now the state of New York & were married in Amsterdam before crossing the Atlantic.
A number of areas and institutions in NYC are named after Stuyvesant, including the Stuyvesant High School, one of the top schools in the US, attended by many future famous scientists and Nobel Laureates ...
