[78-L] 78rpm speed

[Michael Biel]

Broadcast turntables were dual speed from the early 30s, and there were 
some dual speed tables for home use when the Program Transcription came 
out at that same time, and there were some school use of ETs in the late 
30 thru the 40s so there were dual speed tables in schools as well.  (I 
have the ETs that were still in my high school when I was on the AV 
squad in the early 60s.  I asked for them as soon as they threw out the 
only 16-inch player!)  But I think the terminology was usually 
"Standard" and either LP or ET, when referring to the Program 
Transcriptions or Electrical Transcriptions.  Of course, short 
recordings were sometimes cut on ETs at 78, so perhaps broadcasters 
would call them "78 ETs".   When the Columbia Lp and the 45 came out, 
this was the first time broadcasters also had to worry about stylus size 
as well as speed, so "microgroove 33s" or "ET 33s"   might have entered 
their lingo.   When Decca started to issue records and albums on all 
three speeds, the number was the designator on the sleeves, on the back 
of the jackets, and in the catalog.  RCA emphasized "45" immediately 
from the very beginning.  They were always called "forty-fives".  They 
could have been called "Standard", "forty-five", and "Long playing", but 
I bet that once RCA ALWAYS used the designation of the speed number, 
that was the clincher for 78, 45, and 33.  In looking thru a lot of 
original publications from the mid 30s to early 40s, I don't recall any 
mention of 78 or 78s.  But as I write my script I will now make careful 
note for you of any time I might see these designations. 

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 

neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com wrote:
> True, there were other speeds, but did the average home user of 
> phonograph records know about radio transcriptions and movie 
> soundtracks? I doubt that the average record buyer knew that Edison had 
> attempted an LP format at 300 or whateveritwas LPI. I think that most 
> likely, as stated, records were either standard (what we call a "78") or 
> something else, like the early LP attempts, which go back to cylinder 
> days. "Long playing" options would be the variation from the norm, but 
> even this is not correct. Motion pic soundtracks were only, to my 
> knowledge, recorded at 33 1/3, so that was the norm for that format. I 
> believe I've seen some ETs that were produced for classroom use, or 
> maybe could be used for either broadcast or classroom use. Or maybe they 
> repurposed ETs for distribution to classrooms to make more money. Home 
> recordings and ETs would be the place to find different speeds 
> available. So rephrasing the question, when did home players with 2 
> speeds (78 & 33) become common enough to be recognized by the consumer 
> for what they were? Late 40s to my knowledge. When did 33.3 become 
> common enough to be used in classrooms for audio visual presentations 
> (assuming my premise to be correct)? Can someone point to a catalog and 
> say 'this is the first example of a classroom record player with 33 
> speed on it'. Again, for consumer awareness, I'm thinking late '40s. 
> Maybe Mike Biel can answer this. (I assume that  players for radio 
> stations had 2 speeds from the beginning of the ET era).
>
> joe salerno
>
> David Lennick wrote:
>   
>> But since the slow speed (33 1/3 RPM) was in use as early as 1926 for sync 
>> soundtrack discs and radio stations were playing discs of both speeds after 
>> 1931 and 33RPM "Program Transcriptions" were marketed by RCA Victor that same 
>> year, the answer has to be a lot earlier, even if the general public didn't 
>> have reason to refer to "78s" till 1948..even then, the term "standard" 
>> remained popular for quite a while. The introduction of the "45" probably 
>> heralded the general use of speed designations. Lacquer discs, both studio and 
>> for home use, usually had boxes to check "78" and "33" on the labels.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> Royal Pemberton wrote:
>>     
>>> I'd say following the advent of the LP and the 45, so circa 1948/1949.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 3:34 AM, <L78rpm at aol.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> When, please, were the objects primarily associated with this list  first
>>>> called "78s"?   This seems a reasonable question, I believe,  given the
>>>> adjustable speed mechanisms on early disc machines, and the suggestion
>>>>  that some
>>>> brands should be played at 80rpms (or something other than  78).
>>>>
>>>> Paul Charosh
>>>>         
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