Bibletone Records

Initially, the early albums were of choirs, sacred music and children's music. The company also produced recorded "selected passages of the scriptures [including] Twenty-Third Psalm -- Ten Commandments -- Sermon on the Mount and others" that were sold at $1.05 each in 1943. The success of the earliest records of The LeFevres on 78 rpm (in the 1940s), caused the company to shift its focus to Southern Gospel. The company changed ownership several times during the 1950s, operating for a time in Montrose, Pennsylvania and also in Wheaton, Illinois.

Bibletone ventured into production of single recordings in 1949. Initially the focus was on "signing of several Southern and Western radio artists."

• Illustration — blue-vinyl Bibletone pressing, Stamps-Baxter Quartet The company finally settled in East Orange, New Jersey, under the management of Dick Engel. During Engel's tenure, the label boasted its own pressing plant, and recorded a number of major Southern gospel groups, including: The LeFevres, The Blue Ridge Quartet, The Rebels Quartet, The Harmoneers, The Homeland Harmony Quartet, The Happy Goodman Family and the Sunshine Boys. Initial releases were often pressed by RCA Custom Pressing but Bibletone became known in the 1950s for their colorful red or blue vinyl records, pressed in the company's own pressing plant.

In May 1961, Engel was one of four men arrested in connection with an investigation into counterfeiting of records. Nassau County, New York, police arrested the men at the Hotel Plaza in New York City. The four were charged with "grand larceny, conspiracy to violate trade-mark laws and conspiracy to commit grand larceny." Records the group was accused of counterfeiting included Frank Sinatra's Nice 'n' Easy and Enoch Light's Persuasive Percussion.

A reported accident at the plant caused the original Bibletone label to cease production in the late 1950s, and the trademark on the name lapsed. In 1967, Johnny Carter filed for the Bibletone trademark, and began using the name. Later, the label became a part of the National Recording Corporation in Rome, Georgia.