[78-L] RCA-AFB Talking Books

[Robert M. Bratcher Jr.]

At 07:12 PM 12/2/2009, you 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!

Here is a web page with the history of the talking books.

http://www.loc.gov/nls/about_history.html#five