This work-in-progress is focused on under-the-counter 78 RPM records and specialty series produced by very small labels. The first wave of modern party records began in the Depression, anticipating that the repeal of prohibition would bring about increased demand for 'after hours' music on jukeboxes in smaller nightspots which could not afford live entertainment. As the thirties progressed and fragile recovery began, consumers returned to record buying and the makers and vendors of party records focused their attention on the retail market. During their quarter-century or so, a surprising number of 78 RPM party records were released, testimony to their popularity in the face of adversity. They paved the way for Oscar Brand's "Bawdy Ballads" and Rusty Warren's "Knockers Up" LP's. They weakened the rigid strictures against healthy white Americans doing nasty blue humor and were the grandsires of Lenny Bruce.
The Blue Pages is organized alphabetically with added indexes for: TITLES OF ANONYMOUS DISCS cross-referenced to a performer when known; the ARTIST LISTING, a quicklist of names linked to biographies and the known works of each identified performer in chronological order; and the LABEL INDEX for rapid access to the profiles of party labels. Label names are alphabetized in full, so PRIVATE COLLECTION OF NAN BLAKSTONE will be found under "P". Finally, there are ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & LINKS for dessert.
The small white ball
indicates an entry for a party record label. A little
yellow ball 
by an entry or record number indicates that there is
a JPEG image of that label. 'Unissued' refers to major label recordings
which were not released as part of their regular catalogs. These masters
could have found their way to market surreptitiously or tests may exist.