Entertaining the nation for 100 years
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Frank Woolworth first introduced a range of music as long ago as 1886. American Managers hated the idea as it was fashion-led and you had to work hard to make sure you had the latest titles without getting left with lots of residuals. Frank pointed out that music had great margins and widened the appeal of the offer. By 1909 when we opened our first British store music and musical instruments were a firm favourite! |
| We've built and digitised a big library of tracks from our whole hundred years. Below you will find a sample from each of our own-brand labels along with the key dates. To take a look simply click a tab. | |
Sheet Music
| Sheet music, mainly at sixpence (2½p) a piece, was a key part of the Woolworths offer right the way from 1909 to 1957. We stocked a chart of the latest titles from all of the major publishers, backed by a back catalogue of whole music books of popular numbers, some for threepence and some for sixpence. Before World War I, following an American tradition, the largest stores hired pianists to play the latest titles at the weekend. Any sheet presented by a customer had to be played at once! |  |
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Little Wonder Records
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Five inch Little Wonder Records drove a revolution when they went on sale in the USA in 1914. They were the brainchild of Henry Waterson (right). The one minute long, single-sided, unsleeved discs were less than a quarter of the price of their larger siblings. Millions of discs were sold in Woolworths and other dimestores between 1914 and 1922. |  |
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Little Marvel Records
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5½ inch Little Marvels were Woolworths first attempt at an exclusive house label, aiming to repeat the success of Little Wonder in the USA. They were double sided and produced by the Vocalion Recording Company. The range included bands, orchestras and solos of popular songs, along with a very popular series of nursery rhymes. Initially Little Marvel was set up in a competitive trial against Mimosa (next). |  |
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Mimosa Records
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5½ inch Mimosa records, supplied by the Crystalate Recording Company of Tonbridge, launched in parallel with Little Marvels. The buyer cunningly set two suppliers in competition in an attempt to persuade a sceptical Fred Woolworth that records would be a good line. Both labels proved big hits. |  |
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The Victory Records
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Crystalate Records proposed a new, improved sixpenny label and promised a Woolworth exclusive with better titles at higher margins if they became the sole supplier. Their new "Victory" label offered larger, longer records and much better sound quality. They were offered from 1927 to 1930. |  |
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Eclipse Records
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Crystalate rebranded Victory as Eclipse in 1930, switching to a brown paper sleeve. The goal was to reduce the manufacturing cost to maintain the 6d price at a time of inflation, and to allow more copies to be made from each master. The stores sold more than a million of each of the most popular records. |  |
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Crown Records
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In 1935, Eclipse became Crown, a larger nine inch record, with a focus on dance music and some bigger name stars. Among others who appeared (sometimes uncredited) were Vera Lynn and Donald Peers. In 1937 Woolworths took a tough decision, dropping records altogether despite very strong sales because otherwise the price would go over 6d. |  |
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Embassy Records
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In 1954 Melody Maker carried splash news that Woolies wew launching a new house label, Embassy. It was controversial, offering a cover version of songs the same day they hit the main charts. Many teenagers still recall their disappointment, but today others remember the good recording quality and topical songs. |  |
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Warwick, Camden, Pickwick and Chevron Records
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From 1964 Woolworths offered a mixture of budget and chart music, using a series of house labels, many sourced from Multiple Sounds Distributors, including Warwick which was TV advertised and later Chevron LPS and Tapes. Other budget labels included Camden and Pickwick along with EMI's Music for Pleasure and Classics for Pleasure series. |  |
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