British dealer sleeve · West Ealing W13
Bensted’s Corner, 209 Uxbridge Road, West Ealing
A West Ealing radio and record dealer’s sleeve that lists the record labels it kept in stock.
Dating at a glance
- Printed
- late 1933 or later
before 1948 - In use
- Not established
- Confidence
- Medium for the range. No closer date yet
- Basis
- The record labels listed on the sleeve
The sleeve
Buff card-like paper printed in dark blue, with the “His Master’s Voice” dog and gramophone at bottom left. The wording reads:
Bensted’s Corner
209 Uxbridge Road
WEST EALING W13
Phone: EALING 0379
“HIS MASTER’S VOICE” MARCONIPHONE, PYE PHILIPS and COSSOR
Radio & Radiograms
BENSTED’S for Everything Musical
A box at lower right reads: A large Selection of the following Gramophone Records always in Stock:- “His Master’s Voice” Columbia Parlophone Brunswick Decca Vocalion Regal-Zonophone Rex
. At top right is a printed box for No.
, TITLE
and ARTIST
, mostly covered by a strip of brown tape, and a handwritten “D7”. No printer’s imprint is visible.
Simon reports that the back is blank or the same as the front, so only the printed face was photographed.
The evidence
- DocumentedRex, from September 1933. Rex was launched in September 1933 and ended in February 1948 (M. G. Thomas), so a dealer listing Rex is from late 1933 or later and probably before 1948.
- Inferred“Regal-Zonophone” also points to 1933 or later, since Regal and Zonophone were combined in 1932–33.
- InferredNo television. The shop advertises radio and radiograms but not television. That suits the 1930s or 1940s, but is not decisive.
- ObservedThe company. Online company directories list a Bensted’s Corner Limited, said to have been incorporated in 1943 and dissolved in 1997. We could not open the Companies House record to confirm this or its link with the shop. The sleeve does not say “Limited”, which might mean it was printed before 1943, but that is only a possibility.
- ObservedW13 and EALING 0379. A numbered postal district and a named exchange with a four-figure number fit the period, but we have not checked them in directories.
Sources
- M. G. Thomas, Rex label page: http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Records/LabelPages/Rex.htm
- M. G. Thomas, Zonophone label page (Regal-Zonophone): http://www.mgthomas.co.uk/Records/LabelPages/Zonophone.htm
- Business directory entry, Bensted’s Corner Limited (not confirmed at Companies House): https://businessprofiles.com/details/bensteds-corner-limited/GB-00379741
What we could not find
- Bensted’s Corner in Kelly’s or Post Office directories for Ealing, and in phone books under EALING 0379. Ealing Local History Centre holds both.
- The Companies House record for Bensted’s Corner Limited (number 00379741 in the directory listing).
- What is under the tape at top right.
Researched 12 November 2026 from Simon’s photographs of that evening.