The Winner

Launched in 1912, Winner was produced by J. E. Hough (The Edison Bell Co) and was a standard-sized 10" record. Many of the company's previously issued "Bell" masters were used to start with. "The Winner", being British manufactured, was a reaction to the cheap German imports which flooded the market just before WWI. The quality was very good, except occasionally during the war, when cheaper material and poor pressings dogged the label. The earliest labels featured multi-colored representations of a horse and jockey, and there are many variations. The earliest labels show the jockey wearing a yellow jersey and holding a single Winner record in his left hand. Around September 1914, the jersey became white and the jockeys started holding a record in each of his hands. Around 1917, the horse and jockey image became monochrome. In March 1920, the label became red and the logo again turned multi-colored, except that jockey and horse were shown in front of a simple brown background; the grandstand had disappeared. In June 1922, the name was changed to simply "Winner", and the label changed to a gold drawing of horse and jockey on a claret background (please enter these as Winner (2)). Repressings of earlier releases made after 1922 can also be found as "Winner". In March 1926, the horse and jockey label was abandoned, and the name changed to Edison Bell Winner. At the demise of Hough's company in 1933, the label was taken on by Decca and survived until late 1934.