Records were often (but not always) shipped inside a protective generic company inner sleeve, and these sleeves also followed an evolution of their own. Since each design was used over a fairly well-defined period, the sleeve found with a record is a useful clue for dating a copy and for confirming which variation it belongs to (or at the very least, to help identify the period-correct inner sleeve to pair with an item in our collections).
Two cautions apply. Sleeves are loose items that are easily swapped over sixty years of handling, and the plants also often used up leftover sleeve stock while restocking, so earlier sleeves can turn up with later records. A sleeve therefore supports an identification; it does not prove one on its own. Accurate identification should always rely on a triangulation of clues, rather than on a single identifier, especially in a world where mismatches can occur when trying to pair nicer copies with nicer parts.
The first sleeves found with Canadian Beatles albums carry the red Pathé and Capitol printing, with a French side ("Artistes de renom... Musique de choix... Enregistrements de haute qualité") and an English side ("Great Artists... Great Music... Great Recordings"). These were used with most pressings until mid 1966 when Capitol of Canada was reincorporated as "Capitol (Canada)". Some pressings were sold without any inner sleeve.
The same Pathé design with a red warning box added at the bottom: ATTENTION! on the French side, CAUTION! on the English side, with Capitol's care recommendations for longer record life. These were used with most stereo pressings from July 1966 to 1969. Some pressings were sold without any inner sleeve.
United Artists used a clear plastic inner sleeve, rounded on one side, for early pressings of A Hard Day's Night.
The first plain paper sleeves, housing Target label records (green and red), featured a light curve at the top, allowing for easy access to the record.
These sleeves used by Columbia have a small die-cut tab at the top, and its reverse shape on the bottom flap. Used mostly with CBS pressings on the orange label.
These sleeves are straight cut, but have one side shorter than the other, allowing easy access to the record. They also feature a large flap on the bottom to the side of the back sleeve. Used with orange and purple label Capitol pressings until 1980.
Very similar to the previous model, but featuring rounded corners at the top. Used with 3rd generation purple labels.
The first polyethylene inner sleeves. These are straight cut and have the same length on both sides of the opening, making it difficult to access the record. Used with some 3rd generation purple labels and Capitol pressings on the retro rainbow label.
Straight cut polyethylene sleeves with different lengths on each side of the opening, allowing easy access to the record. Used with CBS retro rainbow labels.
CBS reverted to plain paper inner sleeves for their CLJ UK reissue Beatles albums in 1987. These are slightly curved at the top, with small flaps on each side of the sleeve.
