[78-L] RCA-AFB Talking Books
David Lennick
dlennick at sympatico.ca
Wed Dec 2 20:53:09 PST 2009
I had a set of 4 Victrolac Talking Book discs which I ultimately unloaded on
someone in a trade..7 sides were a play or a reading, very badly done (amateur
night) and the 8th side was a reading from A. A. Milne. 12-inch, small black
labels (same as mid 30s 78s) on one side and braille on the other.
And there were AFB recordings for the blind around 1933 made by Columbia's
Sound-On-Disc Division. I've had a number of test pressings (13 inch) but no
finished product. Some were voice tests, some were wholesale readings from
magazines, and one was a complete Sherlock Holmes program.
dl
Michael Biel wrote:
> The question came up a few weeks ago about RCA Victor recording Program
> Transcription talking books I have dug up the discs I have which were
> produced for the American Foundation for the Blind and they have an AFB
> prefix on the matrix numbers as well as on the record number. They are
> 12-inch black vinyl. The grooving is finer than the Program
> Transcription grooving, and the labels state "Licensed Under Dyer
> Patents". Frank L. Dyer was one of the biographers of Edison (Dyer and
> Martin) and took out a patent on fine groove recording. I have some
> notations in my dissertation where he threatened several transcription
> companies who were discussing coming out with fine groove recordings. I
> do not have any info on the relationship between the AFB, LC, Dyer, and
> RCA, but the discs are here. We've all heard how Sarnoff HATED to have
> to license patents from someone else!
>
> The printed labels appear on only on the second side of the record. The
> first side has Braille lettering. Three of the four discs I have state
> on the upper half of the labels:
>
> ISABEL ARCHER DYER MEMORIAL RECORD
> TALKING BOOK
> SOLELY FOR THE USE OF THE BLIND
> Provided by the U.S. Government through
> THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
> recorded by
> AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND
> Licensed under Dyer Patents
>
> At the bottom two of them state:
>
> Pressed by RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc. Camden N.J. U.S.A.
>
> The most important of the records is AFB 1850. (Apparently they use the
> AFB prefix for the record and matrix numbers.)
>
> AFB-1859-1B [the take number 2B is stamped, but there is a 1 heavily
> scratched over the 2]
> TALKING BOOK INSTRUCTIONS [I recognize the voice as Alwyn Bach]
> AFB-2094-2C MESSAGE TO THE BLIND OF AMERICA FROM HARRY L. HOPKINS
> WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATOR [I somewhere found the recording date of
> 3/14/36]
>
> The other three records I have are all bible readings, King James
> Version, Recorded through the generosity of Mrs. William H. Moore.
> AFB 1394
> AFB-2382-2A, 2383-1A THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS and TO THE
> COLOSSIANS.
>
> AFB 1398
> AFB-2395-2A, 2396-2C THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER
>
> AFB 1407
> AFB-2378-1A. 2379-1A THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS
>
> There are several differences in these three bible pressings.
> The second one, 1398, is like the instructions disc.
>
> The last one, 1407, is a little more flexible and has a replacement line
> at the bottom "PRESSED BY RCA VICTOR DIV. OF RADIO CORPORATION OF
> AMERICA, CAMDEN, N.J.. MADE IN U.S.A."
>
> The first one, 1394, has a plainer label without the memorial line at
> the top, and a replacement notice at the bottom "PRESSED BY AMERICAN
> FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND, INC., NEW YORK". Although the matrices are
> the same type, the pressing is a little stiffer and has a slight
> 1/2-inch circle around the spindle hole. So there are three different
> eras represented in these pressings.
>
> Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
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