KID ORY 78 SET JIM FLORA ART 1947 FACTORY MINT

$

334

Here's a rarity -- an original 78 rpm KID ORY AND HIS CREOLE JAZZ BAND album featuring cover artwork by Jim Flora (a.k.a. James Flora). It is SEALED -- the original Columbia Records paper wrapper is still glued shut from the day it left the pressing plant in 1947. It has never been opened.

The wrapper is plain brown paper and because it is opaque and sealed, it is impossible to view the contents. We are certain it contains the fabled Kid Ory album because the spine is labeled (pictured below) with the title and Columbia Records catalog number C-126. This relic was found in a 78 rpm collector's music shop. Another sealed copy, identically labeled, was found alongside it. We opened the second package, and it was indeed a factory mint copy of the Ory album in all its Flora-esque glory.

The shop dealer explained that he had bought these from the estate of a deceased former Columbia Records distributor who had vintage Columbia product stored in his home. These wrapped packages looked as if they had been sitting on attic shelves, untouched for decades. There is no sign that they have been mishandled or moved around much.

The plain brown wrapper was the standard method of retail packaging in that era. The Columbia albums were stored spine-out in rotating free-standing, multi-tiered metal display carousels, on which one unsealed copy of the album would be displayed face out to attract customers. If you wanted to buy a copy, you (or the dealer) would slide aside the face copy and pull out one of the sealed copies stored behind it. In other words, these found Ory relics were standard retail inventory copies.

The image depicted on this page is a scan of the copy we opened. No color-correction or retouching has been applied. There is visible, though minimal discoloration on the upper right corner, as well as minimal loss of coloring along the right edge, perhaps due to rubbing. What we noted though, upon opening the package, was how bright and pure the colors appear. It was a joy to expose this artwork to light (and to eyes) for the first time since it was factory sealed -- nearly sixty years ago! And the four 78 rpm records were shiny new, with no cracks.

The interior of the album includes liner notes about New Orleans jazz legend Ory and a pencil rendering by Flora of the name "KID ORY" (see accompanying illustration).

The Columbia package in this auction was not opened and re-sealed. All originally sealed surfaces are intact. However, we GUARANTEE the contents of this package. If it contains anything other than the Kid Ory 78 set, you can return the item at our expense and we shall refund the purchase price 100%. We cannot guarantee the condition of the cover or the discs, except to offer the above description of the copy found alongside it, and our assurance that the packages were in all respects identical as regards appearance and condition.

This is as close as you can get to buying a NEW album with a Jim Flora cover.