[78-L] 78rpm speed

Thu Feb 25 09:05:46 PST 2010

Thanks Mike. Interesting, b'cast tables were 2 speeds from the early 
30s, which pre-dates ETs (1934 I believe, which I would call mid-30s). 
Why a 33 speed in the early 30s, assuming you mean 1930-1933? Would 
there have been a reason to play a soundtrack on the air?

joe salerno

Michael Biel wrote:
> 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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