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The Lost Stash. The Roaring Twenties brought sweeping changes to popular music. In particular, advances in hot "jazzy" arrangements invented by Wayne King four years earlier were being ripped off by other "artists," like Fletcher Henderson and Paul Whiteman. These new arrangements, coupled with the advent of the radio (another King venue), and the rising popularity of motion pictures led to a gradual decline in popularity for King's recordings.
By the late 1930s, King was finally slowing down. Up until this time, he had taken a personal interest in the records his band produced, and was even said to have personally listened to each of the hundreds of recordings produced. But now his already poor sense of taste was failing altogether, and as it did, he lost interest in his recordings. Sales continued to dwindle through the 1940's; and, almost inevitably, the end of World War II in 1945 delivered the band's death blow. Once the world leader in the art and science of waltz recording, now the Columbo Record and Phonograph Company simply ceased production. There would be no more Park & Recreation Left-Hand Phonographs, and no more Wayne King Red Columbos. Bummer. Poindexter. Earlier in the decade, when production was at its peak, Columbo had tried to establish a national network of "jabbers" -- basically, wholesalers who purchased large shipments of records for re-sale to distributors. In the eastern region, the Columbo Company's sudden departure from the market left the only one of these jabbers that had been stupid enough to sign up -- the Poindexter Distributing Company of Dayton, New Jersey -- with a standing inventory of Columbo products that had accumulated over more than three years, including several unopened crates of Wayne King Red Columbos. To unload this albatross, Poindexter packed up its entire stock of King Red Columbos, stashed it in his mother-in-law's hall closet and locked it away -- not knowing that the entire stash would be all but forgotten for decades. Next-- Preserved in ‘Original Condition’ | Continue Reading | Home | |
