A more-or-less complete discography of Little Wonder Records (and Bubble Books) was compiled by the Little Wonder Research Consortium, edited by Tim Brooks, and released in 1999.- Since no company files survive, major Little Wonder collectors pooled their information to create this discography.- For about half of the records, the contributors were also able to identify -- or at least make educated guesses about -- the artists that made the recording.- This is the most exhaustive listing created to date, but it only reflects what those collectors knew at the time.

This discography is available for purchase by sending $10.95 (plus $1.60 for shipping and handling for U.S. orders) to:

The New Amberola Phonograph Co.
213 Caledonia Street
St. Johnsbury, VT- 05819

As I've continued to build my collection, I've discovered new information that is not yet contained in the discography.- To access this new information click here (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader®; click here for free download).- And please contact me if you have new discography information to share.

Little Wonder Release Dates

Tim Brooks used information from the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogs, other contemporary published sources, and the composition dates for the tunes to determine approximate dates for the Little Wonder record series.- The table below has been reproduced from the discography with the authors’ permission.- (The record range for 1923 only goes up to #1765 in the discography, but I have found a copy of #1776, making that the highest known record so far.)- The first Little Wonders were released in September 1914, and the last seem to date from the spring of 1923.

Finding Take Numbers

Little Wonder records were sometimes issued in multiple "takes" (different recordings of the same tune by the same artists, often recorded in the same recording session).- The take number appears in one of two places, depending on whether the record was issued earlier or later in the history of Little Wonders.- On the early records, there is a hand-etched record number in the "runoff" or "wax" (the shiny area between the label and the grooves).- Sometimes there is also a machine-stamped record number in that area, but the one to find on the earlier records looks hand-etched.- Most of the time, that hand-etched number is followed by a dash, and that dash is followed by a number (for example, 308-1 or 308-2).- The number after the dash is the take number (1 and 2, respectively, in the example).

On the later records, there is a mechanically stamped number in the runoff and none that look hand-etched.- Above that mechanically stamped number is a raised series of letters and numbers, in the format "number-letter-number" (for example, 2-A-26), and the first number is the take number.- You sometimes have to look very closely because the series is often in the label area and difficult to see, and the series is not printed, only raised.- One tip to make finding it easier is that the take numbers are lined up exactly above the first number of the record number (for example, the hypothetical series 2-A-26 would start just above the number "1" on record number 1298).