British company sleeve · London and Luton

Dominion Record, Dominion Gramophone Records Ltd.

The company sleeve of a short-lived British label, printed with its London head office, its Luton works and ten regional depots.

Dating at a glance

Printed: c. 1929 – 1930
In use: 1929–1930; perhaps briefly after, as leftover stock
Confidence: High for the label’s life (October 1928 to mid-1930). Medium that the Luton works rules out 1928
Basis: The company’s short life, and the Luton works named on the sleeve

The sleeve

Grey-green paper printed in dark blue, with “DOMINION RECORD” in a scroll at the top and two framed lists of depots. The wording below the hole reads:

PRICE 1/3 EACH
DOMINION GRAMOPHONE RECORDS, LTD.,
55-57, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, LONDON, W.1.
WORKS; CHAUL END, LUTON, ENGLAND.

Ovals either side give Telegrams Dominicord, Wesdo, London and Telephones Gerrard 5722 (the last digits of the range are hard to read). The centre trade mark is the Dominion “Records encircle the world” globe. The depots listed are London (337 Gray’s Inn Rd., W.C.1), Belfast (59 Chichester St.), Birmingham (58 Vittoria St.), Cardiff (12 Millicent St.), Dublin (31 Lower Liffey St.), Glasgow (48 North Hanover Street), Leeds (Sun Buildings, Basinghall Street), Manchester (5 Clarence Chambers, 4 Piccadilly), Newcastle-on-Tyne (Market Lane, Pilgrim St.) and Plymouth (Balfour Hall, Notte St.). No printer’s imprint is visible.

Simon took two photographs of the printed face. The tears match in both, so they appear to show the same side.

Grey-green Dominion Record company sleeve printed in blue, with lists of depots either side of the centre hole and the London and Luton addresses below. — Simon’s sleeve, printed face. Select the image for a larger view.

A second photograph of the same Dominion sleeve face. — Second photograph of the same face.

The evidence

DocumentedA short-lived company. Dominion records were issued from October 1928, from the head office in Great Marlborough Street, and the company closed in 1930 (M. G. Thomas; The 78 rpm Club). A forum contributor quoting a Luton local history says Dominion was taken to court by creditors in July 1930 and wound up.
DocumentedThe Luton works. The same Luton history, as quoted, says the company started in March 1928 with a factory in the Old Kent Road and moved production to Chaul End, Luton, in 1929. We have seen this only as quoted on the forum.
InferredSo, probably 1929 or 1930. A sleeve naming the Luton works is unlikely to have been printed before the move in 1929, and the company did not last beyond 1930.
DocumentedThe price. The 1/3 on the sleeve matches the one shilling and threepence selling price given in the same account.
InferredDublin as a depot fits the late 1920s but does not narrow the date.

Sources

M. G. Thomas, Dominion label page: http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Records/LabelPages/Dominion.htm
The 78 rpm Club, Dominion Records: https://78rpm.club/record-labels/dominion-records/
Talking Machine Forum, “Bankrupt stock: Dominion Gramophone Records Ltd.” (quotes a Luton local history): https://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?t=38126
Grace’s Guide, Dominion Gramophone Records (1929 British Industries Fair): https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Dominion_Gramophone_Records

What we could not find

The original Luton local history that the forum quotes, to confirm the 1929 move.
Whether Dominion used other sleeve designs, for example one naming the Old Kent Road factory.

Researched 12 November 2026 from Simon’s photographs of that evening.