[78-L] 78rpm speed

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com>
> 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).
>
Columbia introduced the "Long-Playing record" (LP) in 1948; they also 
realized
that their customers needed players that (1) ran at 33-1/3 rpm, and (2) had 
the
much smaller (1 mil, originally) needle to fit the new records. Some of the 
early
LP-capable players required that the user remove the "needle end" of their 
arm
and plug in an LP-intended end with the necessary needle!

Since the new "33's" were intended as replacements for multi-disc 78 "album
sets," they weren't designed as singles (Columbia did release a few 33-1/3 
7"
singles, but they weren't big sellers...?! As a result, the LP's didn't 
really
compete with 78 singles (while RCA's 4's definitely DID!).

Steven C. Barr