Term: Wisconsin Chair Co.
Definition: Port Washington furniture company, 1888-1954, and pioneer music publisher. After producing phonograph cabinets for the Edison Co. at the turn of the century, the company decided to produce its own records in 1917. It started out making ethnic records under the Paramount label (q.v.) designed to appeal to German, Scandinavian and Mexican immigrants. In 1922 it began producing "race records" for the African American market, issuing early recordings by such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver as well as songs by itinerant black blues artists. Its studio was located in a former textile mill in Grafton, along the Milwaukee River.
[Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on May 10, 2002; "The Wisconsin Chair Company (1888-1954)" by Alex van der Tuuk (ParamountsHome.org, 2005).]
