[1] The Oriole label first appeared in 1921, selling for 25 cents per disc record.

At number 250, Orioles began being pressed by the Plaza Music Company, which also pressed Banner Records, and whose issues were the original labels to be treated as "cheap" labels.

During the 1930–32 period, ARC dropped a number of their labels; however, Oriole continued (due to the successful McCrory's contract), using the same number series (which eventually reached past 2000) as well as another series for country and race records.

As the Depression and the popularity of radio cut into record sales, most of the store labels were discontinued; another factor was that the younger record buyers looked for specific versions of their favorite tunes, so name artists like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman made up the majority of discs sold.

All of the low-priced labels were dropped in April, 1938 and the American Record Corporation was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System later that year.