Flora at the Commodore

March 31, 2009   //   1940s, Columbia Records, music, New York, photos, record covers

Floraphile Cary Ginell dropped us a note:

Just ran across this image in the Library of Congress archives. It’s a shot taken by William Gottlieb of the Commodore Record Shop in New York in 1947. Check out the guy in the middle of the photo. He’s getting ready to purchase (or sell, if he’s a counter clerk) the Kid Ory Columbia 78 album with Flora’s artwork.

BTW, the guy reaching up to pull something from the record stacks is Jack Crystal, Billy Crystal’s father. He ran the store for Milt Gabler, the owner.

Don Brockway adds:

The customer will never listen to it; he just likes the cover. Great shot. Makes me miss REAL record stores with REAL salespeople, who would never have said, “People who have bought Kid Ory have also purchased items by The Jonas Brothers.”

UPDATE: A later (unpublished) photo taken at the Commodore shop that same day was subsequently discovered in the Gottlieb archives.

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