Gallery: Jack White Just Curated the Ultimate Box Set of Iconic American Music
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From the outside, *The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records Volume 2, 1928-1932* looks like a vintage portable phonograph—and that's the point. (Expand the gallery for more details.)
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Opened, the set exposes a main cabinet for the two books—one hardcover, one softcover—and a record sleeve that stores the six LPs.
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The grille and detailing evokes RCA Victor's Special Model K portable electric phonograph, which John Vassos designed.
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The books: a hardcover volume containing original art and a history of the label, and a softcover "field manual" housing artist biographies and portraits.
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All 800 tracks and companion newspaper ads live on a sculpted metal USB drive.
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Some Paramount ads from the *Chicago Defender*.
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Some of the archival art included with the box set.
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Stamping on the lid is homage to the Wisconsin Chair Company, the furniture design concern that launched Paramount Records in the 1910s.
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The bio entry on Delta blues musician Son House, whose "Walking Blues" was lost for decades until it was recovered in 1985.
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An advertisement featuring Charley Patton, the father of the Delta blues.
