Little Marvel was a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

which issued small (5 3/8 - 6 inch)

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

s during the 1920s. The label was owned by the Vocalion record company (known in the United Kingdom as the Aeolian Co, Ltd.), and was part of a competitive market for small, inexpensive discs existing at the time in the United Kingdom and Germany. Little Marvel records were sold exclusively at UK

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

chain stores at a retail price of 6d (sixpence). The Woolworth's logo appeared on the label of the discs. The first issues appeared in 1921, at select Woolworth's locations, but in 1923 the product became available at all Woolworth's stores. As with many records of this type, the

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s are not credited. The labels on the records mention only the song title, the style of music (e.g.

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

), and in some cases the name of the

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. The records were popular not only for their price, but also because of the peppiness of the performances. In addition to popular fare, some children's discs were also issued. Most issues paired a popular number which was under copyright and for which royalties were paid, while the other side was a recording of a title under public domain, or with the copyright controlled by the record company.

References

See also