[78-L] Life magazine at Google Books

[Harold Aherne]

The entirety of Life's 1936-1972 incarnation is now available for viewing at Google Books,
and I thought it wouldn't hurt to bring up a few of the discussions of 78s and their artists
that appeared through the years:
 
8 August 1938: a major piece on swing appears, discussing the current scene and offering
an overview of jazz's relatively brief history as recorded music. There are photos of a 
Commodore session which includes Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon and
others, and features a picture of the recording turntable. The caption mentions "wax 
discs" but the objects are pretty clearly lacquer like those in the 1937 Duke Ellington 
subject. Anyone know when this session might have taken place? It's on page 58
of the issue. 
 
26 December 1938: a lengthy profile of Paul Whiteman is included with some rare
childhood and candid photos. 
 
31 October 1938: the love triangle between Ruth Etting, Moe Snyder and Myrl
Alderman is profiled. 
 
26 July 1948: LPs are discussed for the first time, including the famous picture
of the massive tower of 78 albums vs. the modest stack of LPs. 
 
12 February 1951: an obit of Pee Wee Russell is published 
 
15 April 1966: Louis Armstrong, the subject of the week's cover, mentions owning
and enjoying records by the ODJB, Henry Burr, Galli-Curci, Tetrazzini, and McCormack
 
14 June 1968: Irving Kaufman, Billy Murray, Arthur Fields, Russ Columbo, Rudy Vallee
and Al Jolson are mentioned as the artists whom [shudder] Tiny Tim seems to evoke.
 
7 July 1972: a letter to the editor, responding to the controversy over the origin of the
phrase "rock and roll", discusses the Boswell Sisters' 1934 record. 
 
1972: Rudy Vallee gets *two* letters published this year, one on 26 May decrying the
demolition of a low-income apartment complex featured in an earlier issue, and one on
25 August responding to an article on the Rolling Stones. He says "Actually, a person
such as Jagger should be locked up. He would have been had he tried to perform in the 
'20s or earlier, when we wouldn't have tolerated his mad offering". 
 
And there are innumerable ads for radio-phono combinations and record companies, 
including RCA's "Listen" ads/brochures published in 1937-38. 
 
-Harold