Capitol Labels Before the Beatle Period

ALBUMS
	This first of all Capitol album labels would appear to be patterned after their second label for 78's. Even so, the original purple label would wind up being a Capitol classic. In its original incarnation, it lasted until about 1953.
	By around 1953, Capitol had withdrawn their original label, replacing it with a "banded" label that would last through 1956. At that time...
	...the band was removed from the label, leaving only the words "Long Playing." The writing around the rim of the label is in a different font but still reads "Manufactured by Capitol Records, Inc. Hollywood, California USA."
	Not long after the above label was issued, many Capitol albums came to be issued with the additional words "High Fidelity." It is possible to consider these two issues as one in the same. Labels were gray for standard releases, green for international (and some other) releases, and red for soundtracks -- although the colors were not used uniformly. The print around the rim of the label now shows the patent for T-Rim, and the trademarked logos for Capitol and for "Full Dimensional Sound."
	With the advent of stereo in 1959, the original rainbow label was introduced. Approximately 220 different albums were pressed on this first of rainbows before the words running vertically across the label were removed.
	Those missing words (above) were replaced with spires leading from the Capitol dome logo to the top and bottom of the label. About 300 albums later, the "classic" rainbow label, on which most Beatles albums would be pressed originally, would replace this one in 1962.

SINGLES
	This was Capitol's "first of all labels," starting in 1942. Notice how the dome logo extends under the word "Capitol." The bottom portion was removed after about 100 singles (c.1945) and a black and silver label persisted for a season.
	The replacement for the black-and-silver 78 label was an all purple label, which went through a few minor style changes. The band around the 78 label appears to have been removed circa #900. The purple label would become the model for the first Capitol 45's. At first, all Capitol 45's were preceded by the letter "F" (for "forty five"). The earliest Capitol 45 known is F6?? from mid-1949; earlier singles may exist. NOTE: for a few years, the pressing dates were stamped in the matrix of the records.
	In imitation of their foreign counterparts, Capitol pressed singles with what they called an "Optional Center". This proved to be an early 50's phenomenon which never returned.
	As 1958 came, and the purple label was nearing its end, some of the labels were made with smaller Capitol logos. The "bars" were removed from the singles around #4290 (see below).
	When stereo albums were introduced, Capitol saw fit to change their singles labels as well. This intermediate purple label would last a couple of years, until about 1962, before being replaced by the yellow/orange swirl that adorns most Beatles singles.