IMPERIAL

First advertised in the June 1905 Talking Machine World, Imperial soon supplanted the foil-label Leeds Records as Leeds & Catlin’s flagship brand. They originally retailed for $1 each but were reduced to 60¢ in December 1905, coinciding with discontinuation of the foil-label line.

Imperial’s catalog numbering system continued that of the Leeds foil-labeled discs, with 40000 added to Leeds’ base number (e.g., Leeds 4438 = Imperial 44438).

The discs were widely exported to England beginning in the spring of 1906.

In October 1907, Sun replaced Imperial as Leeds & Catlin’s flagship domestic brand. However, Leeds continued to produce Imperial records for export to England, reportedly in very large quantities.

New Imperial releases continued to appear regularly in the British trade-journal advance lists, but not in their American counterparts.

Although Imperial records were still being advertised by British dealers in 1909, it is uncertain whether any were manufactured after Leeds & Catlin began producing double-sided pressings.

Source: Discography of American Historical Recordings