Shaw Record Processing

When Syd Nathan of King Records decided to manufacture records as well as produce and record them, he hired a mechanical engineer, George Weitlauf, who had experience with major record companies in setting up manufacturing operations. Weitlauf set up and operated King’s manufacturing operation for five years before leaving to develop his own custom pressing facility at 1914 Dana Avenue in Cincinnati in 1949. It was named Shaw Record Processing for another King employee, Stephen Shaw, who left with Weitlauf to operate the new company. Because there were no other pressing plants in Cincinnati, they were able to corner the pressing business for most of the small local labels such as Carl Burkhardt’s Kentucky, Gateway, and Big 4, as well as Excellent, Pearl, Radio Artist, Echo, and Esta. By 1955, Carl Burkhardt was setting up his own pressing operation, which took away a lot of business, and Shaw went out of business in 1956.

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