"Awesome file of 1.2 million children"

click to enlarge

Here's some recently-discovered evidence regarding CRG's membership size. The figure of 1.2 million members is said to represent the total number who had joined since the club's inception (actually 1950—not 1951). If accurate, that's a minimum of 14,400,000 records sold, because each member was obligated to buy 12 records per year. But many members renewed their memberships one or more times, so the number of records sold is likely significantly higher than 14 million. (Again assuming the data given in this article is accurate.)

It is not clear if the 1.2 million figure refers only to primary CRG club (run by Stevenson's Greystone Corporation), or if it also includes the CRG franchise operated by Book of the Month Club.

In the book, I estimated annual record sales of "well over 2 million" by BOTH sources. But if the 1.2 million cited here refers only to Greystone's CRG, then the annual sales would actually be about double my original estimate.

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As for the 600,000 figure given for Music Treasures of the World, that is consistent with the 599,411 figure given by Milo Sutliff when he testified at a Congressional hearing earlier that year (1956).

Milo Sutliff testimony on Record Clubs (1956)

In early 1956, Milo Sutliff testified before Congress regarding the record club business. He said: "Last year I took a census which was not very difficult because I called the Book of the Month Club and found out how many records they ship and I called Music Masterworks and found out how many they shipped and of course I knew how many [of Music Treasures of the World] we shipped, and between us we shipped 3,300,000 classical symphony records through the mail." In contrast, he continued, "We shipped, maybe, 30,000 pop records." As of that moment, Sutliff reported that MTW had 599,411 members, adding that "some of them have canceled—lots of them—actually, 185,000 have canceled, and never bought a record. They said, 'Send me this for 10 cents, and they never bought a record.'"

Music Treasures circa 1964

As mentioned in RCR, Music Treasures of the World records were, at some point, sold by the Grolier Society. (My only evidence at the time: some MTW jackets refer to MTW as being "a division of the Grolier Society.") After RCR was published, I found a non-dated MTW direct-mail circular originating from Americana Interstate, Inc. -- Grolier's mail-order arm. I had assumed that Grolier's MTW franchise dated from the late 1950s. However, I recently discovered an Americana Interstate ad for the MTW club in the November 1964 issue of High Fidelity. (Headline: "THE BIGGEST HI-FI RECORD BARGAIN EVER!") By then, the records were being offered in "Electronic Stereo," in addition to the original mono. I've seen only one MTW "stereo" disc. It has a red label, as opposed to the standard blue.

UPDATE: I just found a couple of MTW discs in Americana Interstate shipping boxes, postmarked 1962. So the "no later than" beginning date of Grolier's MTW should be revised from 1964 to 1962. As if it matters...

MTW and the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission objected to Music Treasures advertisements, and in 1956 decreed a "Consent order requiring New York City operators of a record-of-the-month club under the trade name of 'Music Treasures of the World,' to cease representing falsely that those who became 'associate members' by purchasing a record for 10-cents might cancel their membership at any time, and to cease shipping records and attempting to collect payment after the required notification had been given." Many years later, John Stevenson explained: "They wanted an immediate explanation with the headline that there was a commitment if there was a commitment. Of course, you could cancel, but they don't like the inertia factor at all. So we tightened the offers."

Ofslager book

In 1957, Norman Ofslager took 20 Music Treasures of the World booklets and hand-bound them beautifully into a hardcover book. He also created an ingenious table of contents in his own meticulous handlettering, which he printed and bound into the book (see picture above). I know all this because on the inside back cover it is written: "Handbound by Norman Ofslager 1957." Thank you, Norman, whoever you are!

Music Treasures mailer

A 4-page direct mail circular for Music Treasures of the World.

Festival Record Club

This is what Music Treasures of the World looked like in South Africa.